Worth Dying For
by Danii2
Summary: "It's the last thing I've got. When the living abandon you, you turn to the dead." she said, and he seemed to look into the distance. "Well don't gamble all you've got on it." Sequel to Take My Hand... Twenty Years Later.
1. Chapter 1

Hiromi didn't remember this place.

The young woman stood on the edge of a once booming town, now abandon so that even the wild things dared not venture here. Underfoot was a busted pavement street that had overgrown with grass and weeds. Before her, spanning as far as the eye could see, was hills of wildflowers.

A long time ago, she was told, this place was a flat plain.

Putting her rifle over her shoulder, clicking into the magnetic 'holster', Hiromi began to walk into the fields. Her helmet didn't pick up any movement around her as she walked slowly, looking around at the mounds. People hadn't been here for at least a decade, nature had taken back what was rightfully theirs now.

Meaning her journey would still take time. But she was closer now than she'd ever been before, and she had the patience she needed.

Harmony wasn't home anymore.

There was a quiet electronic chirping behind her and she looked back. The dog-sized drifting drone that had been her companion the last few weeks, designed with the striking similarities to a cuttlefish, was unsure about leaving the safety of the city despite it's obvious disuse. A whir sounded as it watched Hiromi gesture with a wave to follow, and it angled itself forward, propelling into the unknown.

The sun moved faster than she walked, and soon, night fell upon the softly rolling hills of the once Stronghold of the Militia. Hiromi had found her way to a grove of floating stones, the distant sound of water calling her to a natural spring. A perfect place to rest.

It wasn't long before she had a fire going, a plate of rehydrated food warming on a nearby stone as she laid back against her bedroll, staring up at the stars. Hiromi remembered more stars in the sky when she was little, but this was another planet, on the other side of the universe.

At least, it felt like it.

Reaching into a pouch on her backpack, she removed a small journal, and sat up to use the light of the fire to write another entry. Her ink pen was going dry...

_**April 1st(?), 2337**_

_**I think I'm close now. I went through the city last night, I could tell it was the one near base by the buildings from dad's pictures. I don't know how many mounds I passed that were natural or from the invasion, but I can't bear to try and dig any up. Harmony has done a good job at taking back what was hers, though I have a feeling the radioactive matter has something to do with the speed it's taken over. **_

_**If my calculations are correct, and they gave me correct coordinates, I should make it there in time. Hopefully, I didn't come all this way for nothing. **_

_**-H.V.**_

Sighing, Hiromi shut the book and tended to her food, before turning in for the night.

* * *

It was midday when Hiromi spotted a glint in the distance, and paused. Her heart jumped to her throat and she let out a soft whistle, the drone following her as they ducked behind a mound, her reaching into one of its packs and drawing out a pair of binoculars. She feared raiders again, last time had been a narrow escape because her drone didn't turn off until they were almost atop of her.

Raiders would take anything they could, this place was once a goldmine for black market parts, and some places still were as the radioactivity levels dropped.

She hurried up the side of the mound and, bringing the binoculars up, she spent a good deal of time trying to locate the glint and zoom in with enough clarity to see what was ahead. Hiromi cursed herself for going cheap on the binoculars but it had been a last minute replacement.

However, when the image cleared, her heart returned to her throat, but not from fear.

It was anticipation that boiled in her blood now, and the hope she had found what she was looking for.

Shimmying back down the mound, she returned the binoculars and removed her rifle from her back instead. It took her a few minutes to run through the checks, making sure was loaded, and everything was in working order. If it had been raiders, she realized, as the gun showed a low charge, she'd have been royally fucked. Cursing her inattentiveness, she started to change out the battery pack when her drone made a low beep, and pointed itself in a direction towards the other side of the mound.

Hiromi froze.

Now her drone, despite not having much of an AI, was programmed for a few things: Follow. Carry. Provide. Locate. Much like a dog, almost, but smarter, and quicker. It had different noises for different prompts, or reactions. The noise it had let out was only used in such when it located movement of a being, or beings, with elevated heat. Whether it be body, or battery, the AI would sense it.

Meaning something… or _someone_ had moved into her cuttlefish's range of sensors.

Sweat started to pool on Hiromi's forehead but she quickly swapped out the batteries, putting the rifle into 'fire' mode as she held it at the ready. The Cuttlefish hadn't moved, indicated what it had detected hadn't moved, but she didn't trust that.

She made a low click-whistle, the drone followed command and rose above the mound, making a beeline straight for whatever it was detecting as it silently camouflage itself with cloaking mirrors. Hiromi leaned around the mound, lifting the gun and watched the drone with her helmet technology. It was hovering about fifteen feet in the air, zooming over thirty yards away and stopping, pointing at a mound before making another low beep over the transmitter in her helmet. It had found its target, but between it and her was open space.

"_Activate Cloaking Technology."_ She said firmly, hearing the internal AI register voice commands and her armor started to shift before she watched her hands and firearm vanish before her eyes. Taking a deep breath to control her anxiety, she ducked around the mound and began to sprint toward the other.

Thirty yards felt like it took forever but nothing moved out from the mound, and the drone never moved or beeped to signify movement. Slamming into the mound with her back, she checked both sides and began to move slowly around, gun up and ready. Her heart was racing in her ears, out of breath from the sprint, her palms were sweating but through it all she was still focused, she could still remember some of her training.

_You can do this, Hiromi. Three… two…_

Hiromi swung around the corner, bringing her eyes through her sights to see… nothing. Nothing was there. Her brain scrambled to make an answer but the noise of metal clanking drew her eyes to a small hole dug into the mound, about the size of a jar. Backing up, she got a few yards away before she squatted, and turned on her infa-red visor.

It showed a small prairie creature, a large vole of sorts, sniffing around in the maze of cold dirt and metal in the mound. The drone must have picked up it's body heat, which would make sense why the drone hadn't moved… Sighing in annoyance, she turned off her cloaking device, and whistled to the drone to decloak and come down.

Out of the mound stuck a piece of metal, and she reached out, brushing it off. It looked to be the fender of an old transport vehicle. Hiromi didn't want to know if the owners had been buried with it as she turned away, looking into the distance to see the glint again.

She was almost there.

The drone made an electronic blurting noise of warning, her hearing a shuffle of movement to her right. Spinning, she didn't get a chance to see what it was when something connected with the side of her helmet, knocking her to the ground. Alarms blared but she hadn't taken any injuries, rolling onto her back and lifting her rifle in defense.

Above Hiromi stood a figure that she couldn't make out any shape through the fabrics and pieces of armour. Pulling the trigger of her rifle, a blast of electricity shot out of the barrel and hit the attacker… which, to her horror, had no effect. Instead, the attacker reached down and ripped the gun out of her hands. As she scrambled back, it grabbed the gun with both hands, and snapped it in half over it's knee.

_Shit!_

The drone hit the attacker with a bigger bolt of electricity, this seeming to have some effect as they staggered back. Hiromi scrambled to her feet, reaching down to her side and removing her smart-pistol, lifting it up. This was her last line of defense, before her knife.

She fought best with a knife.

"Stop right there!" Hiromi broadcasted through her helmet speakers as the attacker had recovered from the electricity, the drone readying another charge. It would need at least ten seconds before that charge was ready, and she knew it would be stronger than the last.

The attacker seemed to stop, and slowly lifted their hands.

"Identify yourself!"

"...why?" A low male voice surprised her, "You're the one who's not from around here."

"But I _am_ the one with a gun. _Identify._"

"... do you know how to use that?"

There was a piercing silence as Hiromi looked at the gun, then back up, "Of course I know how to use th-"

"I'm pretty sure you don't." The judgement hurt more than the whack in the head she'd received, and the drone made a low beeping of concern. "Because you have the safety on."

Hiromi, slowly, turning the gun slightly to see that, indeed, the safety was on. The sweat that had been pouring down her forehead seemed to double now, she would have to remove her hand from fire position to switch it due to how big the gun was in her hands. The attacker slowly started to lower his arms, and stepped forward.

Pacicked, she brought the gun up again, "I said stay _back!_"

"Lady, look, you came into my-" The voice cut off as the drone fired another charge but a _shield_ appeared in the way, doming all the way around the attacker to deflect the shot's charge into the ground. "_**Stop that.**_"

"Holy fuck." Hiromi was stupefied.

"You came into my zone, bringing your shitty taser guns, an exploring drone, and little knowledge on firearms and tell _me_ that _I_ need to identify. Let me tell you something, sister." The man approached and swiped the gun from her hand, cocked it back, and aimed it behind him. A shot rang off and the drone fell from the sky, her heart soaring into her throat. "_I do not take orders from you."_

"My drone!" Hiromi voice was angered and horrified as she sidestepped around him and rushed to the companion's side. Luckily, the shot hadn't been a dead hit, instead hitting right where the flight propellers where… but that was an AutoPistol… had that shot been _aimed manually? _He wasn't even looking behind him!

There was the cock of the gun and Hiromi paused, realizing she had stupidly turned her back on her attacker to check on the drone.

"_**Identify. Now." **_Slowly, Hiromi lifted her hands and turned around, staying on her knees. The attacker had the pistol aimed right for her head. It would be a deadly shot at this range.

"M...My name is Hiromi. Hiromi Valsello… I… I came to... I came to find…. I came in search of my sister, Sola Kione."

There was a dead silence as the… man, stared at her. Slowly, she lifted her head slightly, and put her hand to her visor, turning the reflective glass off to show her face.

The man visibly stiffened.

"Do… Do you know who I speak of? Can you help me?"

The man said nothing, instead taking the gun and looking at it. She didn't know how he saw, she couldn't even see a face, or the shape of a face, behind all the fabrics. He turned it, inspecting it, then grabbed the slide and racked it until all the rounds were lying in the grass.

Tossing the smart pistol on the ground at her feet, the man went to her drone. It curled its tendrils up in defense but he ignored it, squatting down and picking it up. Hiormi watched in confusion as he stood, and looked back.

"... get your gun, lady. And follow me. That gunshot was probably heard at least a few miles away. Raiders will be crawling through here soon."

Hiromi was frozen for a moment before she nodded, quickly grabbing the gun, and after a moment, the rounds. She holstered the empty weapon and pocketed the rounds before sprinting to catch up on the distance he had already made.

The walk was silent, her awkwardly following this man through the field towards the glint in the distance. He had to be a foot taller than her, but she wasn't all that tall to begin with. She glanced at his hand hanging by his side, the only thing that really had shape…

Leather gloved, but the pointer finger of the glove was missing... she could see metal…

Hiromi respectfully looked away when he balled his hand up, he must have noticed her look… but, how?

To her surprise, it took almost an hour walk before she stepped through what _felt_ like a barrier and suddenly, she was standing at the entrance of a gated field. She quickly stopped as to not run into the chain link fence, watching the man use a key to open the old-as-time-itself padlock and usher her inside, before following in and locking it behind them.

There was running water here, she could hear it, and looking around she spotted trees... A few buildings… and solar panels. There were huge, and exactly what she had spotted from the mound. How had the shields not blocked them? Looking around, she also spotted quite a few automated turrets, seeming sitting dormant, vines growing on most of their barrels and standing legs.

The man started to head towards one of the buildings, and she followed. This one was like an old barn, and as he opened the door with one arm, she gaped at the inside, There was tools, _everywhere._ Tools she recognized, but most she did not.

In the middle of the room, a giant form was covered with a tarp, and Hiromi couldn't pull her eyes away from it until she heard the clunk of her drone hitting a workbench counter. The drone whined, and the man scolded it. "You and I both know that didn't hurt you."

Slowly, Hiromi crossed over to the other side of the workbench, watching as he pried off the plating that the bullet had gone through with a prybar. It popped off, and he reached in, removed the exploded component.

"Man, this drone is _cheap_."

"Cheap? This cost me alot of money, and you just _shot_ it." Hiromi sadi bitterly.

"These things were a dime a dozen in the old day, which you better feel lucky, thankfully I have spare parts to fix it." The man turned away, rummaging through a few drawers before turning back, holding a slightly dusty component. Reaching in, he seemed to hook it back up, and the drone made a happy chirp. "You're welcome."

"...You speak binary?"

"Yeah, when the world comes to an end, you have the time to learn things."

"...but _binary?"_

"I can _understand_ it, not _speak_ it." The man put the hatch back on the drone, and patted it, "Go on, fly you bozo. But don't break anything."

Slowly, the cuttlefish lifted itself off the table, making diagnostic sounds until a comical toaster-oven ding was heard and it ducked behind Hiromi. She reached back and patted it, then looked back at the man.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome…. So you came looking for Sola, huh?"

"You know her?"

There was a soft grunt, and the man waved to follow. Hiromi, again, followed him out of the barn, waiting for him to close it. He turned to her when he was done, seeming to sigh, then started to walk towards the solar panels.

It was, again, a long walk but it wasn't thanks to the distance. They crossed under the massive solar panels, and crested a hill. Hiromi was looking back at the panels, noticing them going down as she turned to look back forwards. Her breath escaped her as pure awe overcame her, coming to a halt.

Before her, blooming in the late day sun, was a field of golden flowers. They grew like they didn't have a care in the world, endlessly spanning, as far as she could tell.

"...wow."

"Yeah…" The man said, seeming to have paused to take in the view with her before he started to walk again. Hiromi followed all the way to the bottom of the hill, and into the field of flower before he just… stopped.

Hiromi's stomach sunk as he bent down, and started to gently push the flowers away from the ground. It was a deafening moment of silence as he slowly moved the flowers around, then stood and turned back to her, stepping out of the way.

She could see it, a metal plate with engravings.

"...here she is… I'm sorry if this isn't what you were hoping for."

Hiromi looked at the man, then gently reached up and removed her helmet. The air here was breathable was what her sensors said, and she took a deep breath.

"It's okay… I already knew."

"...I'll give you some privacy." The man turned and started to walk away, calling the drone to follow. Hiromi watched him go, then turned and gently knelt in the field, looking down at the plaque. It was made of some sort of perfectly polished metal, with the engravings done deep despite the age.

**Sola Kione  
Beloved friend, daughter, and lover.  
03-Apr-2294 ~ 04-March-2317**

"Hello, big sister…" Hiromi said, quietly, "I know you don't know me… maybe you do and I don't remember but... I wanted to come… and wish you a happy birthday. I think I'm a day early, but… Harmony days are so much different than what I'm used to. So much has happened since you've gone away…"

As Hiromi spoke, she reached into her backpack and began to remove some things, gently setting them by the plaque. A black cloth, an alien pear that she had managed to keep fresh, and a few small sticks of incense with a stand. Carefully, she brought forth a match and burned the sticks of incense, then sat back, and stared at what she had presented.

"...dad misses you, he didn't want me to come here and mom said it's because he's afraid that something is going to happen to me. Mom… Mom said you would be proud to hear I did this on my own… or you'd be really angry." she laughed to herself, then looked down at the picture she'd brought.

Hiromi had never met Sola, but everyone she ever met that knew her said that Hiromi looked just like her, and had the spirit to match. Hiromi was technically Sola's cousin, not by blood however, only by Oscar's marriage to Amy. Zero blood relations, yet many claimed they looked so familiar beside the fact that Hiromi's eyes were a deep, woodland brown compared to Sola's amber gold.

A gift or a curse, hearing the stories of Sola growing up had given her a role model… and a strength when times got tough that told her she could do whatever she put her mind too.

But this time...

"Sola...I came here… I came here to ask you to help me. I need your strength, the strength that… that mom and dad and all our brothers and sisters talked about you having. Please… Grant me the strength to do this." she whispered, closing her eyes and looking up at the sun, that had slowly crawled to set before her, casting long shadows.

"... you know, asking the dead for favors doesn't always work." The man's voice startled Hiromi, and she looked back to see him standing a few feet behind her to her left. He was… well, it looked like he was staring off into the distance where the sun was setting.

"...yeah well, it's the last thing I've got. When the living abandon you, you turn to the dead."

"Well don't gamble all you've got on it."

"Who are you anyway?" Hiromi asked aggressively, the man looking to her, "How did you know Sola?"

"..." The man gently reached up and messed with his hood before the fabrics fell back off his… head. That was not a head, Hiromi thought before she made the connection and gapped, staring at the long, sleek metal triangle with ratty coontails as the 'man' lifted his head and stared at her. She was greeted with the long, smooth glass 'faceplate', a rectangular pink optic glowing in the setting sun.

"...you're Uso…?"

"Well, good to hear they haven't forgotten about m- WOAH!" Uso ducked as Hiromi grabbed the pear and chucked it at him, it flying into the field.

"You COWARD! They needed you! They needed you and you let them die!" Hiromi's throat hurt already from how much talking she'd been doing after months of silence, and now her eyes burned as she marched at the old titan-now stim, swinging a fist. He easily ducked back.

"Hey, hey! Easy!" He chided, moving away from another hit.

"You should be dead! I should have shot you for what you did to them! She died and this is how you 'honor' her?!" Hiromi swung again but he grabbed her by the wrist, his grasp firm as she struggled.

"Stop, you're going to get hurt."

"No! Let go of me! Let-" The squeezing increased and her feet where off the ground, her face an inch away from the optic glass.

"_**Stop.**_" Hiromi obeyed, but didnt stop glaring at the pink optic before she was dropped to the ground. Her ass met the dirt, and she grunted in pain. "I didn't realize what was happening until it happened, you understand? Not a single day goes by where I don't live without the guilt. But if I wasn't here, some things would be alot different. "

"That doesn't change the fact you're still a coward."

Uso made the cycling sound of a sigh as he looked at the grave, and nodding "I won't argue that. I am a coward, and Sola would hate me for it, but… I can't change the past. I can't stop what happened… from happening… and I have to live with that."

There was a long silence as Hiromi got up, brushing herself off and staring at Uso, who was looking at the grave. Slowly, he crossed over, and picked up the photograph, staring at it before he tipped his head forward into it, the optic dimming.

"...Is it true, that you two were lovers?" Hiromi asked gently. He didn't reply, bending down to put the photo back. She suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of sadness, but… it was clouded over by the anger towards him. Uso had abandoned the militia when Sola died, and he left them without a valuable ally. And the whole time, he had been here…

By the grave he refused to leave when she passed… fifteen years later, it was still apparent he refused to leave.

"Why did you come here, Hiromi?" Uso asked quietly, "No one in their right mind would come all this way just to wish a person they didn't even know happy birthday."

"...I came here to ask her for help."

"Help? She's dead, she can't help you."

"Maybe not in the body, but in the spirit." Hiromi inhaled, then set her stare on Uso, "I've tasked myself with a mission, and I won't rest until I've done it."

"You, a mission? You can't even shoot a gun."

"I can learn."

"From who, Hiromi? What is your mission anyhow?"

"I'm going to kill Chase Colton.'

There was a stiffness that went through Uso as he snapped his head to look at Hiromi, the wind picking up. She knew he could see the seriousness in her eyes, he wasn't stuipd. He was still, to date, the smart AI there was. And after 15 years, he could have only gotten smarter.

"...how do you intend to do that?"

"I'm going to track him down, order him to repent, then kill him like he killed so many."

"A shot in the back of the head?"

"_Without remorse._"

A silence filled the air again as the sun slowly slipped over the edge of the horizon, and the AI shook his head. " Revenge is a dangerous territory, lady. Beside, that guy is a seasoned killer, how do you think you're going to find him and kill him."

"I don't know but I'm going to do it. Death isn't an option for me till it's done."

"You watched way too many movies…"

"Wh… what are those?" Hiromi asked, her serious demeter slightly knocked away. Uso stared at her blankly, then gently shook his head and started to walk towards the settlement, "...Hey, hey wait!"

"You've got to be kidding…"

"Uso! You know how to shoot, you should teach me!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"Because a robot can't train a human."

"But a human trained you!" Hiormi said firmly, Uso pausing, and looking back at her, "I know all the stories. Dad, Barker, BT… Jack… they told me about how you started out, how Sola trained you. You knew my gun wasn't ready, you shot my drone without SMART tech on… You can't tell me you can't show me how to shoot."

"...I'm not going to help someone with a deathwish get to their grave faster, forget it." Uso started to walk again. Hiromi's temper flared.

"Then you could at least do it for her!"

She didn't know what she said till she said it, but suddenly the AI was back in her face, "Listen here, punk. _You didn't. Know Sola._ You come here, asking for her help on a suicide mission when you dont even have the means or know how to do it? Downright disrespectful, to her, and to everyone who's died to Colton. Go home, kid. This isn't your fight."

Uso turned and marched back towards his settlement, Hiromi staring after him. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, from anger and pain and hopelessness. She had come all this way to ask for help… and only felt like she had been beaten further down. A sob left her lips and she collapsed on her knees in the middle of the field.

She had come so far…

_Please Sola… Help me…_

* * *

Uso didn't dream, but sometimes, he came close.

He had left the girl in the field and gone inside the charge overnight. His batteries barely held out at 10 hour anymore. This place was his prison now, he couldn't leave if he wanted to. In the darkness of the code; he poured over info from any passing transmission, night after night, week after week, year after year…

This place was his personal hell…

_I'm going to kill Chase Colton._

"She's crazy." Uso said aloud to the darkness, "She's going to get herself killed!"

The darkness did not respond but Hiromi's words bounced in his head… one burned him… 'Coward'.

But she was right.

He had been so caught up in the shock, in mourning, but he knew what was happening as it was going on. He had never disconnected from the militia database…

He could have helped them, he didn't know to what magnitude he could have helped them, but… he could have done something.

_**You can do something now.**_

_Uso's head shot up in the dark, "Who's there?"_

_**Uso… Please…**_

_...Sola?_

_**Help her, Uso. You can do something now.**_

"Sola!" Uso shot up from his charging station,looking around, trying to figure out what woke him. His battery pack was fully charged, but there was nothing el-

_Bang!_

Uso turned his head slightly. That was a pistol shot… specifically, a Smart Pistol… Who-

_Bang!_

Quickly, the AI got up, unplugging his battery and going outside, heading towards the noise. He found himself behind the barn, staring at Hiromi who was… attempting, it seemed, to hit some cans on a distant bench.

_Bang!_ The smart pistol found it's target, the can going _ping_! And flying off the bench. He could tell she had turned on auto aim and was using it… but god, her stance… her gun etiquette… Hiromi looked over at Uso, then back at what she was doing.

_Bang! Ping!_

"You're doing it all wrong."

"Oh am I? I'm hitting the targets."

"That's because you have auto assist on. Turn it off and try to hit something." Uso said, coming over to her. She rolled her eyes and flicked it off, lifting the gun and taking aim.

_Bang! Clang! Boom!_ The shot went wild, hitting something behind the can and ricocheting. Uso grabbed Hiromi and ducked them down as the shot flew around, hitting something in the barn and causing a clatter.

"God, you're a worse shot that Sola. Give me that before you hurt yourself." Uso scolded, getting the gun from the girl and unloading it. She looked flustered, "What are to trying to accomplish?"

"...dad said the more I practiced… the better I'd get… I mean, I hit you with the taser gun…"

"At point blank." Uso stared at Hiromi, sighing, "Look… I'm sorry about yesterday, for… ruining your vigilante dreams."

"...It's okay… You're right… I'm gonna get myself killed." Hiromi said, looking down. There was a minute of silence, Uso awkwardly shifting foot to foot.

_**You can help her…**_

"Follow me." Uso said, waving. Hiromi looked at him curiously, but obeyed. They went inside the barn, and after a minute of searching, Uso sighed and went to the giant tarped object.

"What are you looking for?"

"Paintball guns."

"Paintball?"

"They help you learn." Uso grabbed the edge of the tarp and pulled a rope tied into it. There was the sound of sliding fabric and all the tarps fell, Hiromi gaping in awe. Under the tarp, hardly touched by time, was Uso's Vanguard frame. With a grunt, he leapt up onto the top of it, a thud resounding through the barn. With some gusto, he opened a shoulder hatch and pulled out the ancient paintball guns.

"You still… have your frame?"

"Of course. But no batteries, not anymore. That was my price..." Uso said quietly, jumping down, "Look, kid… I can train you, but… I don't have any juice left to last me more than a day. This place… this is my grave now. I can get you started but… that's it."

"...Even after you said-"

"I know what I said. But… maybe, if I can do one thing right before my batteries run dry… Maybe I can die with one less regret."

Hiromi looked at Uso, tears in her eyes before she did something he… didn't expect. She hugged him. It was a warm, tight hug, that he held the paintball guns away from himself in shock of, looking down.

"Thank you, Uso."

"...don't mention it." he said softly as she let go, then handed her a paintball guns. "Go on, go set up the cans. I've gotta go back up and get the bbs."

"Okay!" Hiromi said excitedly, running outside. Uso watched her go, then turned and jumped back up onto the top of the Vanguard frame.

For a brief moment, he looked at the hatch. He hadn't looked inside himself in 15 years… everything he had left of her… he had put in there, vowing he would never return to the war that took her away.

And now…

"...I hope… that you can forgive me…" Uso said quietly, still looking at the hatch, "...Wherever you are, lovely…"

A soft breeze blew through the barn, making the building groan as golden petals drifted with the breeze. He watched them float through the barn and slowly littler their way around, one coming to rest on the hatch door by his feet. Uso reached down and picked it up, gently holding it in his hand and dimming his optic.

"_...I love you, Sola Kione. Even when I'm gone, I'll never forget you."_

* * *

_Hello fans! _

_After almost a year... I present to you some closure! I'll be honest, it's 4AM and this just... came to me. I don't know if I'm going to continue this but I guess that's going to depend on your reception of it. Please let me know what you think, I have re-opened a new discord server ( /tUYspwu ) that still a sort of WIP but for now, feel free to come and chat!_

_Thank you all so much for the support, and thank you for over 41k reads on TMH!  
-DanII_


	2. Chapter 2

Three year passed.

Hiromi and Uso were sitting on the roof of the barn as the sun was slowly setting, her eating some food as he tinkered with weapons probably a decade old. The place had changed since she had arrived. For one, they had to build a garden so she had something to eat, and while it had been a close call, they had managed to get some vegetables harvested before the winter. They had some local wildlife tamed as well, a large bird that's eggs were the size of her fist, which helped as Hiromi wasn't a meat eater. Other foods they had managed to take from raiders, as well as other supplies she needed.

Speaking of raiders, her arrival had not gone unnoticed. Uso had a pact with one small local group, and they had welcomed her arrival. Other raider groups, the subject of Uso's 'supply snatching' outings, were not keen the 'Metal Devil' had someone with him. She did, however, have some close calls due to her inexperience, and her and Uso had gone some days without anything except fresh wounds.

Hiromi rubbed her cheek, a scar on her jawline from a graze of a hot round made a spot in her face numb. It was one of many new scars, Uso was not a gentle trainer in the slightest and sometimes forgot to pull his punches. It did prepare her for the toughness of the real world, and while the raiders were scary at first, she was starting to find them less and less challenging to raid.

She had grown a lot in three years. Uso had too. The robot she had met her first day here she found to be incredibly… human like. He kept to himself, mostly, but if not for his appearance she would have probably never guessed this was an AI. Even then, he looked no different from an old war stim beside a golden pilot scarf and a cracked, black leather bomber jacket.

There was a beeping sound and Uso sighed, his battery was low again. Hiromi glanced over; the robot's batteries had about six hours of charge, a number that was slowly dwindling on the daily. Batteries were not an easy find these days, and finding one that had a charge was like a needle in the haystack.

So far, on all their raids, he had told her to keep an eye out. And out of almost thirty raids, they'd found ten dead cells.

"When's our next raid, Uso?"

"Mmm, probably soon. I need more scrap." He muttered, his optical flickering as he spoke.

"Think we should try a new group?"

"Unless you want to make a week trip, we won't be finding any other groups." He said, finishing up his work.

"Won't it be worth it?"

"Might, might not." He said, "Might have to go to the City."

The City was the closest thing they could call civilization anymore, a ship port that was unaligned with any side of the war. It was how Hiromi had gotten here, and while it was civilized, it was far from safe for an old war stim with a six hour battery.

"Why?"

"Might find a battery there, it'll cost an arm and a leg but I still have some valuables from two decades back… Go get the toolbox, I forgot about it and I need it to finish the gun." Uso said. Hiromi nodded, grunting as she got up and slid down the roof, jumping into the tree branches, and monkeying it down to the ground before going into the barn.

As Hiromi crossed through, her eyes drifted over to the Vanguard frame. Since her arrival, he'd taken the tarp off, but it never gathered dust as he kept it rather clean. Sure, a few times she'd come in and something on it had been _ moved _ but for now, it was just a hunk of metal.

But goddamn, he'd kept that hunk vintage, and stood by the very firm rule she was _ never _to open the hatch. Sure, she was explorative, and the idea of seeing inside that hatch itched every curious nerve in her body… but it was the one rule she'd never push.

Uso had been her sister's titan, after all. It felt… like it would be a slap in the face to disturb what was left of her, untouched by time, by looking in that hatch.

But sometimes…

Sometimes Hiromi wondered what it was like in there.

Grabbing the toolbox, she came back up and made her way up the ladder, walking along the flattest part of the roof to Uso and set the box down. He grunted a thanks, opening it and removing a tool.

"Hey, Uso."

"Yeah?"

"What was it like… to have a pilot?"

Uso paused his work, looking at the gun for a long moment before he began his work again. "Like nothing I could ever explain."

"That's what you always say!"

"I mean it. For one, I have way more life experience than you-"

"We both know that's bullshit! I'm six years older than you, almost!"

"Yeah, but I also have all your sisters memories and access to _ thousands _ of terabytes of information which, as an AI, is like _ thousands _ of years of experience."

Hiromi rolled her eyes, getting a chuckle from him as she sat down at looked at the sun setting. There was a few minutes of silence as he worked.

"I guess for one, always having another person in your head was amazing."

"I feel like it would bother some folks." Hiromi's voice was questioning despite the nature of the statement.

"Well, not everyone made the cut to be a pilot. You had to have alot of mental awareness and maturness, and you had to be able to communicate well in battle. I'll be honest, having the metally of a child is not ideal for Titan's AI but I didn't die because Sola had experience. I was her second titan."

"What happened to the first?"

"Got chopped down in battle. It was pretty horrendous for her, how she lost her leg too; she developed PTSD from it. Pretty much why she refused to be my pilot for a long time, but duty comes before all else."

"...what was she like?"

Uso cycled a breath, "A great teacher, and an amazing friend. Stubborn but understanding and caring. The others called her 'mom' a lot, which as a young AI confused me since she was technically the youngest but looking back it makes sense now. She was the one that was there for everyone if they needed it, sometimes so much she forgot about herself, but… it never bothered me. She and Jack both did that, drove BT crazy."

"Was it true Jack and Sola dated?" That was a loaded question and Hiromi already knew it, smirking as Uso laughed.

"Oo yeah but it was all a guise because Jack and BT-" he made a raunchy finger gesture, Hiromi laughing while saying 'ew! TMI!' as the AI laughed.

"But she loved you, didn't she?"

As expected, Uso looked down, then off and away from her, "Yeah… yeah she did… Cmon lady, let go inside."

Hiormi frowned, but nodded. Uso was hard to get to open up, especially when she tried to touch on the topic of the romance she was told existed between Sola and Uso by her parents and her friends growing up. He didn't deny it, but… he never talked about it either. His pilot or his lover, either way, one could see her death affected the titan greatly.

Sometimes, Uso was just a little too human, even as his batteries beeped for a low charge.

* * *

Uso's sigh sounded painful, despite the load they were carrying back on the twenty, maybe older, year old jeep being one of their biggest this year. The raid was successful, but again, there were no batteries. In fact, their find was much worse.

A sniper.

Being pinned down, a lucky shot had hit Uso's spare battery pack, making it a ticking time-bomb. It made a wonderful grenade that the Stim had chucked over a hundred yards to clear out the sniper hut, but it left him down to three batteries, meaning he was either stuck being offline for six hours, or risk running one of the batteries twice in a day and killing it quicker.

Hiromi glanced over as she drove the jeep. It was quite taxing already for Uso to have to change the batteries, and quite stressful. He would always be a lot more tense when they were out and on the last battery, as charging the batteries via solar panels compared to water energy took double the time and only charged in the day. He had a spare at home, but he called it his 'emergency battery'. Never once had she seen him use it.

"You alright, Uso?"

"It seems we will be making a trip to the city after all."

"You think so?"

"I do… I also think that maybe you should be heading back." Hiromi stared at Uso, her mouth slightly open at his statement. He looked back at her, the pink glow of his optical hardly seen between the fabrics, "Eyes on the road, lady."

"We're in the middle of a field." She scoffed, "Trying to get rid of me already?"

"There's not much else I can teach you, Hiromi. Well, there is much but I feel like it would take you a lifetime to learn it and we don't have that sort of luxury." He looked back at the batteries as he spoke.

"...You should come with me, Uso." It was not the first time she had said this, and it was always the same answer.

"I know, I know, but… I can't bear to leave her alone long." Uso said quietly.

They drove in absolute silence for a good half-hour, Uso watching around them as Hiromi focused on driving back. She looked down at the milage… maybe another half hour to go…

"Uso… How did Sola die?"

It was a tough question, and one she had tried before. Sometimes, he would give her a few words, or tell her now was not the time and wander off. But here, Uso had nowhere to go. So, he could either yell at her… or tell her.

"...We were going to deactivate the command tower. I was downstairs, she was three floors up… just her and Chase. They were trying to leave the jump-zone open long enough for Oscar's ship to get through… Now that I think about it, you came with Amy, you were on that ship too. How old were you?"

"Just turned five, I think." She mused, knowing he was trying to change the subject, "Did you have your stim?"

"Yeah, I did and so did BT. It was really helpful… She told me that the ship had just come through and that we could crash command. I was hacked into the system, so I started to trash the place. Then her side of the link just went… quiet. It was like something that happened when one of the two parties block you; you can do that with a link. But it felt different. I thought maybe it was interference and kept trying to reach out to her for a few minutes… then it happened."

"What?"

"...A link breaking is… the most painful thing someone can experience. But an injury? I'd say it's on par with that pain. I just felt like someone punched through my chest, it hurt so bad. I couldn't move, I just… screamed."

"Do AI's feel pain?" Hiromi asked curiously.

"That's… that's a hard question. I think it's more the overload of feedback that gives us the experience of something like pain… but when your pilot feels pain…. You _ feel _ it. Physical, emotional, it's a whole charge that if you haven't experienced it before, it's a terrifying experience. You can't control it, you have to block your pilot out. But if it's during battle that's the last thing you want to do, it can get them kill so you just have to… ride it out."

"Did the pain stop?"

"No, not at all. I had to close my link on her and run but by the time I got to her…" Uso trailed off for a moment, looking out across the lands, and his voice changed, "I should have left my link open, have fought it through the pain, have been there for her so she didn't die on the floor alone while she drown in her own blood. He shot her point blank, doctors said by the angle and the burns and her bruised neck… He pried the gun up under the armour and emptied six casings into her chest… and he still missed her heart."

"I'm sorry, Uso..." Hiromi said, anger and sadness burning in her throat as she swallowed a lump down.

"She didn't deserve to have that happen to her. After everything…" Uso's voice cracked and he stopped, looking off into the distance. A silence filled them beside the sound of the jeep on the road, and the items bumping around in the back. Hiromi didn't push him to say another word.

"...Do you think I can do it?"

"I think that you've learned more than I did in the last three years then I have in fifteen, and that's saying something, Hiromi… But maybe you should go home. Join the others, hunting down someone like him isn't a one-man kind of job. Maybe you can…" Uso trailed off, and sat up.

"What is it?"

"There's a set of fresh tire tracks." Uso said, and pointed at the grass. She looked, and indeed, there was another set of tire tracks in some mud, ahead of them. Now they weren't stupid enough to have tracks that lead all the way back to their base, as they took several precations; including that their tracks just dead stopped in the middle of nowhere thanks to Uso's sheilds, but this… This was maybe only a few hours old guessing by the puddles that had formed in them.

The two look at each other and Hiromi pulled off, going into a grove of nearby trees. Quickly, the two put on their armour and grabbed their guns, getting out of the truck and pulling a cloaking tarp over the top. Uso was peering at the shields were he knew their farm was hidden, and she squatted down by him.

"What's the plan?"

"Follow the river in, come from the back of the solar panels. Stay so the glint of the sun gives you cover. I'm going to go in through the front."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm practically bullet-proof. I'll be fine. Now go." He commanded, Hiromi nodding and taking off running down through the forest, worried.

Uso had experience, he would be okay... right?

* * *

Uso knew his own compound, he knew his own blind-spots. The turrets were dummies, moved around and fired nothing lethal but as he passed into the barrier, he could see them pointing straight down.

They had been turned off, but how?

Removing a monocular from his bag, Uso put it to his lense and peered through. His lock was busted on his main gate and it was rolled open, and a very clean jeep was haphazardly parked between the barn and the house… This was definitely weird, he thought, and the idea of a trap crossed his mind. Six people could fit in that jeep.

Turning, Uso backtracked and lifted a unhooked part of his fence, slipping through and jogging towards the house. He managed to slip into the back door and to his surprise a quick scan showed no lifeforms had entered, or even disturbed the house. The was normal of his friendly raiders to not come in but they had keys to the gate, and even then they didn't enter unless given prior clearance. Beside, that jeep was too new.

Going into the living room, he lifted the couch cushions and grabbed the Mastiff. It was loaded and ready, and he slowly moved to a window. Peering out, he saw no one walking around, or sitting in the jeep. The windows weren't even tinted, but he could see boxes in the back…

The barn door was wide open, he could see from here.

"Shit!" Uso cursed, open the front door and rushing across the dirt, ducking behind the jeep. Desperately, he tried to raise his old frame but realized that the batteries were not locked in as to not drain them, and despite his radio attempts, Hiormi's drone did not respond either.

Looking out across the field, he could see Hiromi moving in. She was a little far off but it would be five minutes tops. However, there was a loud clunking noise from inside, and in the bottom corner of Uso's visible HUD, a warning would pop in.

_ Battery One Loaded. _

Someone was trying to power up his titan frame.

Uso stood, going around the jeep and ran for the barn, sliding across the ground to collide with the hay-bales and then got up, climbing over them and pressing himself to the wall. He couldn't wait for Hiromi, he couldn't risk someone opening the hatch of his titan frame.

Another clunk, and he got another alert. _ Battery Two Loaded. _

Hurriedly, he moved along the barn and poked his head inside. The frame was facing the rear of the barn, meaning he could see the person messing with the back. They had moved the two batteries into spot, and he could see them locking in the third battery.

_ Battery Three Loaded. _

The Frame was starting to boot up now, he would be able to take remote control in a minute. For now, though… His voice pitch changer kicked in, taking away the accent he had and deepening his voice even more, but adding an echo so one could not tell if it was male or female speaking. Putting his gun to his shoulder, he swung around the door and started to approach.

"Stop, right there!" His voice boomed and the person froze with their hands on the last battery, unmoving, "Hand off and back away!"

The person followed instructions, hands up and away as they took three steps back, then stopped. Uso looked them up and down, seeing a gun over their back and a pistol on their hip. Okay, they were armed…

"Deactivate the magnitics and take your belt off." He ordered, and heard the person chuckle.

"At least take me out to dinner first!"

"I'll shoot you where you stand." Uso grunted as the person kept laughing, yet did as they were told.

"Do you know what you've got here?"

"A titan shell, what of it? Didn't your mama teach you not to touch what wasn't yours?" Uso asked, moving in right behind the invader. They were a little taller and beefier than him but he wasn't worried, he could break them in half first.

"Didn't your mama teach you to not take what wasn't yours?"

"Excuse me?" Uso was caught off guard, and jumped as the man moved as fast as a lightning strike, turning and grabbing the gun. Uso didn't hesitate, pulling the trigger but the man had moved the gun away from him fast enough, pellets spraying the ground.

The gun came out of his hands, and went soaring across the barn as a fist collided with his chest, sending him sliding back into the doorway. The Ai was shocked, this person was either superhuman, or-

A fear rose into his proverbial throat as the man turned and shoved the last battery in, the titan frame coming to life. Not even hesitating, he darted forward and grabbed the gun from the holster on the ground, lifting it and firing several rounds into the man's back.

Uso was pleasantly surprised and mildly horrified to find that it was a smart pistol that he'd grabbed, with the auto-guide already on, all the shots hitting their target and the man fell to the ground with a shout.

Uso's titan frame booted up, the glow of his massive optical showering the trespasser as he used the ocular remote control to grab his massive rail-gun and point it down, leveling it only a foot or so away from the man's head. He could hear joints grind and groans from misuse and the need for oil but it moved enough, holding the gun trigger-ready.

Stomping over, Uso grabbed the man by the jacket and flipped him over, holding the pistol at the ready… and froze.

Laying on the floor, hands up, was another stim-frame. It was strikingly familiar; green and orange paint with bright blue standby lights, and an even brighter optical. On the side of its head was engraved a serial number, and the name almost made his processor stutter.

"Unit Uso, you could have identified." BT said with a groan, "You know our parts aren't cheap."

"BT?! Wh- How- You-! The fuck, man?!" Uso said, stupefied. His giant frame stood down, unreadying the weapon but he stayed at the ready, almost not believing his own optical. "I almost killed you!"

"At least you have learned to look." BT slowly got up, Uso putting the gun in his armour and helping him, pulling him to his feet as he changed his voice back, pushing his hoods back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was looking for someone, and happened to notice the shield. Thought I might check, though I'm… mildly surprised to find you here."

"Only mildly?"

There was a loud clang as BT's fist connected with Uso's head, him staggering back and falling on his ass. There was a line through his vision as he realized BT had cracked the glass, flickering to try and get his processor to ignore it.

"Yes, only mildly." The tone of BT's voice was undoubtedly irate, Uso sighing.

"That was my last glass."

"Hey, back up!" Hiormi's voice filled the air and he looked back to see her moving into the barn, gun at the ready. BT looked up as well, him making a static noise.

"Hiromi?" The shock was apparent, and Hiromi froze mid-step.

"BT? Holy shit, is that you?!"

BT stepped around Uso as she holstered her weapon and the two embraced in a tight hug, him having to bend down a little. Uso stood up, meanwhile, shaking out his head before turning and ordering the giant frame back into a standby squat, taking the batteries back out while the two said their hellos.

He wasn't not expecting the wack, but at least it wasn't the bullet. A thought crossed his mind and he removed the pistol from his armour, looking at it.

Uso knew this pistol.

"BT." He said, cutting into their conversation as the two looked over at him, seeing him holding the gun, "What happened to Jack?"

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Hiormi spoke, "He was captured and taken into IMC custody almost a decade ago… they were going to kill him, and when the militia went to break him out of his cell… he was gone."

"Gone? Like… gone missing or gone, _ gone?" _

"Gone missing." BT said, "I've been trying to find him, up until recently. Hiromi-" He turned away from Uso, and looked down on the young woman beside him, "What are you doing here? I've been looking for you almost six months, your parents said they haven't seen you in almost 4 years! Is this where you've been?"

"Well, she's only been here three years." Uso butted in, "Did it really take you that long to get here, lady?"

"Four years, Hiromi!" BT said scoldingly, and Hiromi sighed.

"You wouldn't understand, BT. None of you understand, except Uso! He's the only one who's even bothered to help me!" She said, annoyed.

"What do you mean, helped you with what?" BT asked, and Uso looked at Hiromi as she looked between the two.

"Well? Tell him, I'm not doing it for you." Uso said, crossing his arms. Hiromi sighed, and BT removed his hand from her shoulder, stepping back to look at her in the eyes.

"What?"

"I… I came here… I came here three years ago to wish Sola happy birthday,,, and I asked her… I asked her for her strength." Hiromi started.

"Her strength, why?"

"... I want… I want to avenge Sola Kione. And countless others. And the only way I can do that, is by killing Agent Jasper… by killing Chase Colton."

* * *

BT watched as Hiromi left the barn, a storm of emotions going through him. He couldn't believe her, that she was stupid enough to think she could take on a man with as much expriance in _ killing people _ as she had expriance in just living. And that Uso was feeding into it! He could almost rip the idiot's head off, as he looked back at the once child-like AI tinkering with-

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" BT said firmly, as Uso looked up from Jack's gun.

"It's having a hard time loading the next round, I'm fixing it."

"Since when did you become an expert on guns?"

"Since when did you become such a dad?" Uso asked, the snark that BT knew rising to the surface. The old Vanguard cycled in a deep breath, and let it back out, going over to the table and pulling up a chair to watch the other work across from him.

"I can't believe you fed into that, Uso."

"I didn't. I just made sure she knew how to take care of herself. I told her today it was time for her to go home and maybe gather an army but by seeing your reception to the news, I understand why she didn't want to."

"It's _ Chase _. There's no way she'd be able to get close to him, he'd gun her down across a city."

"Think I don't know that?" Uso asked, and a beep filled the air. The other AI stood upright, and sighed, then bent back over and went to work.

"Is... that a low battery noise?"

"Yeah? What of it?"

"..." BT stared at Uso as he kept fiddling with the gun, a few minutes of silence passed between them, "...Have you been here this whole time?"

"Not always, I've been doing some raids, some weather training with Hiromi-"

"Before that?"

"...Eh, did a few _ less _ raids."

"Uso, that battery shouldn't go dead for _ weeks. _ Don't tell me you've been trickle charging them, I gave you a charger."

"Yeah, well, it broke seven years ago. Don't trust raiders and their rigged up batteries, almost lost a finger when it blew. Surprised it didn't grenade."

BT stared at his friend, and a sadness slowly started to fill him. He could remember the days after Sola had died, how Uso refused to even leave the grave. He remembered sitting with Uso for hours, trying to tell him to come home, how she wouldn't want to see him like this.

** _'I wish I wasn't hooked up the mainframe, BT. I wish I could burn out and die. Then if I didn't go to her, at least I wouldn't be here to feel this hurt.'_ **

** _'She wouldn't want this, Uso.' _ ** _ He could hear Jack's voice even now in the memory, him trying to hold in the tears. Sola's death had shook his pilot deep to his core, and even BT felt the loss within himself. She was their family, and she was his friend. _

** _'I don't want this either. This is my fault, I should have went with her! I could have saved her!'_ **

"You still there, Big Boy?" The nickname snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked back at Uso, who set the gun in front of him. "There, it should work good now. I've got to go do things."

Uso put his tools down, clicking off the light as he headed to the barn door, then stopped to look back at BT, "You know… I don't agree with her motives, but… At least it's taking her somewhere in this life, unlike the rest of us."

"Jack is out there, Uso."

"What if he's not? What are you going to do if you find his bones in the bottom of some ditch? Hell, what are you going to do if you find out that he left on his own accord?"

"He wouldn't do that."

"But you don't know-"

_ "I know. _" BT's voice was firm and threatening, telling Uso not to push his buttons. Uso sighed, and looked back out the door.

"You can come in and sleep in the house, the couch is open. But leave Hiromi alone about her goal, just… try to take her home, alright?"

"...what about you, Uso?"

"...I told you a long time ago, I'll stay here till I burn out and die. Then I don't have to remember anything anymore."

"Then why haven't you let that battery in your back go dead?"

Uso didn't answer, only started to walk away, but after a moment called, "You owe me a new lock, BT!"

"...and you owe me a new back." BT sighed, weakly getting up as his back ached from the gunshots, holstering the gun and heading towards the house. Once inside, he looked around, then went down the hall. He could see a light on under one of the doors. Knocking gently, he called out "Hiromi?"

"Go away, BT."

"Hiromi… I'm sorry about how I reacted. I guess... I guess I'm just scared of you getting hurt. I know you're an adult but… This war, you don't belong in it. Just like she didn't, and just like the rest of them. No one belongs in it. No one but me."

"...because you were born for it?"

"Exactly."

"But what about Uso?"

"..." BT sighed, looking up at the roof, then down, "Hiromi, look… if we can… If we can get some others, people with more experience… then maybe… Maybe your mission, it wouldn't… it wouldn't be such a bad idea."

There was a silence before the door opened a second later, bright brown eyes looking up at his optical. She was stoic, silent, a pillar of seriousness.

"Are you being honest with me?"

"...I mean… as honest as I can be… It's been ten years, and I never want to stop looking for Jack, but… maybe helping you can bring me a step closer to finding him… whether it be dead or alive."

Hiromi frowned, but nodded, and looked down the hall past him, "...Thank you, BT. When do you intend to leave?"

"A few days, probably."

"If you give me a week… Uso will come with us."

"Are you sure? He hasn't left Sola for eighteen years, Hiromi."

"I believe, BT. I believe Sola will give him the strength. When I asked for Sola to help me, that night, after Uso told me I was a fool, I was so lost… I thought I had made a mistake. And then I had a dream. I dreamed I was in that field, that I was between the stars and the flowers. Someone… someone told me that I had all the strength I needed. That I could do it, and all I had to do was make the others believe they could. And the next morning… Uso changed his mind."

"But what does that have to do with him leaving Sola?"

"She's already gone, and I think.. I think Uso is almost done grasping that. I think that he's finally going to realize that he doesn't always have to be near her bones to always be with her."

BT stared at Hiromi, her serious expression, soaking in her spirited words, and nodded, "I trust you, Hiromi. Do what you must, alright?"

Hiromi smiled, and the door shut between them. BT went back outside, and laid back in a chair on the porch. Way down the ways, he could see a pink glow in the flower fields, and his heart ached, knowing Uso was down there, saying his goodnights to his long lost lover.

Looking up at the stars, he stared at them, millions blinking in the sky and hoped that somewhere… Jack was looking back.

_ Good Night, Jack… I promise I'll find you… it's just going to be a little longer. _

* * *

Ask and you shall receive! Thanks for all the support!


	3. Chapter 3

The lack of noise on this planet was mildly disturbing, but after eighteen years… it stopped bothering you.

Agent Jasper laid high up in the crow's nest over the shooting range, dead silent as he peered through the scope of his Kraber. It was trained on a target just over a mile away, an empty can of soup that rattled on a marker pole from the harsh winds of the environment. He hadn't fired at it yet, taking his time to watch how it blew around in the wind that whistled above his head.

It was almost -35 C with the windchill, the lack of any sort of plant life allowing torrents of windstorms a hundred to a hundred and forty kilometers an hour to scorch the land in the winter. Three months of the year this place was nothing but peaceful grasslands, but that was only three months. The rest of the year, or at least what he called a year, was this shit.

Jasper was tired. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been staring at the can for three hours or the fact that his body was numb from lying here so long in the firing position. He's been letting any thoughts that played through his mind pass through like a busy freeway, like meditations, but with more stops.

Today, his mind liked to think alot about when he was young. He thought about Harmony, about his days there as Chase Colton, Northstar Pilot for the Militia, best sniper of his class at the time…What a long act that had been to play. It had been with its perks between the money and the information access, but he knew that he had played a little too into that act.

CHAOS knew that too, and he had to pay a heavy price.

For a moment, he recalled the last day of his life as Chase Colton. He could remember the look on their faces, all of them before they died. He could remember the way his heart tore its way up into his throat as he ran for his life; how his arm broke when he had to fall four stories to escape those who pursued him, their faces of rage. Long gone was the sense of comradery; he was a traitor.

...he could remember Nini's voice, telling him it was time for him to go.

Agent Jasper shut his eyes, and rested his forehead on his rifle….

He still hated that mission. CHAOS forced him to blow his cover, as punishment for playing in too far to the act. You were an actor, but when you become too passionate in the role, it was time to switch the memo.

There was the sound of someone climbing the ladder, and Jasper lifted his head, looking back through his scope. The sound stopped, and Agent White's voice pierced through the low whistle of the icy wind.

"Boss wants to see you."

"I'm shooting right now."

"Well whatever you're shooting, it hasn't been the gun. I've been downstairs for an hour, haven't heard nothing from your rifle since I got here." White's accent twisted in with his cold words. Jasper sighed, then slowly got up. His old joints groaned, he felt like static in an old radio as he dropped the mag out the bottom and racked the bolt back, throwing a bullet across the crow's nest.

"At least I don't have to clean it now."

"Hurry up, Boss wanted to see you half an hour ago."

Jasper looked back sourly, slinging the gun over his back as White slid down the ladder, following after a moment later. They walked through the mostly empty gun range, the warden catching Jasper's gun when he tossed it over, putting the clip and extra round on the counter. Behind him, the windy plant pixelated, and started to fade out.

"See you tomorrow." The warden called, Jasper not looking back.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

A door opened as they left the simulated shooting range, into a long hallway. Jasper removed his helmet, clipping it onto his hip and running his fingers through the wad of fiery red and grey fibers he called hair. It was long enough to tie back behind his head and still give him a tail down to his shoulders without uncurling it, so he wadded it up and tied it it a knot to call it good.

White was several inches shorter than him, taking off his helmet so the black man's que-ball bald head gleamed in the lights of the hallway. Jasper may have been older, but it was White who drew the short stick for old age hair quality. Speaking of, the younger agent looked back to lock brown eyes with blue.

"I don't see why you keep going out there every day for hours at a time, shooting nothin' but cans, if you even discharge the rifle."

"It's called the act of testing my patience. You never know the next time you'll be sent on a mission that you'll have to wait hours before the target walks into the perfect spot."

"That sounds like torture."

"It's better than throwing yourself into it."

"Well, unlike you, I'm not a fucking idiot when I do." Jasper's eyes glinted angrily as White smirked through his statement, pleased in the fact he'd gotten a rise out of the agent, turning away as he pressed an elevator button. For a single moment, Jasper was tempted to snap the other's neck, but he took a deep breath in through his nose, and slowly let it out. White heard it, "Oh, please do. I'd sell a nut to watch you get thrown back into the Pillow Fort."

"Well, sorry to say it but you wasted your wishes. Didn't anyone ever tell you that sharing your wish barred it from coming true?" Jasper stepped past White and into the elevator as it opened, reaching out and pressing the button as it was White's turn to sour. Jasper only grinned, his dimples blending in with the splashes of freckles across his cheeks.

"Burn in hell, Jasper."

"See you there." The doors shut, and Jasper's smile faded. He closed his eyes, taking a few more deep breaths to calm the rage trying to bust it's way out of his had to shed all emotions before the Boss, show no sign of pride or weakness… He had learned the hard way.

The door dinged and Jasper stepped out into the dimly lit office-like surroundings. Rows and rows of desks, all facing the walkway he made his way down. He walked straight through, past desks of women typing until their fingers bruised and their nails fell off. He could hear some sobbing through their teeth, but didn't stop or look.

Sympathy didn't stir in him any longer.

Jasper went to the door and knocked, a cheery voice of 'come in' being heard before he opened the doors and stepped inside. There was a great window overlooking a city. Desk lights and a roaring fireplace illuminated the dark room, which was sporting intricate decor and a large, oak desk at the end of a red carpet. On the left side of the desk was a masked guard, a female(he could tell by the shape), wearing a step down from a tactical armed guards' set up. It wasn't for show; to be here you had to be CHAOS' best.

Sitting behind the desk, lounging back in a rolling chair, was a young blonde man in his mid-twenties. He cast his blue eyes to the agent as he came in, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You're late."

"I apologize."

"No need to, I knew you would be if I sent White after you." The man took his feet off the desk, "I have a job for you."

_ About time. _Jasper rebuked his thoughts, crossing over to the table and looking at the file the man cast out before him. "Locate and destroy?"

"What you're good at, and no covers. Just sit there until they show up, alright?"

Jasper lifted the files from the desk, holding them out slightly and getting a nod of permission, him opening them and reading the contents. It was detailed, yet still brief enough to memorize. He walked over to the fireplace, and chucked the files in. The fire changed to a bright, unnatural red color as they burned the folder away.

"You leave at once." The man said, Jasper turning and bowing respectfully, but paused when the younger continued, "Do not make us regret sending you alone."

"I will not. The mission will be carried out to the T."

"See to it that it does." The man looked past him as the door opened without a knock, and smiled, "Welcome!"

Jasper took this as a sign to leave and turned around, only to stop short when he was greeted with the familiar lightless T visor of a helmet. The approachee did not pause, and continued to stride forward. However, he knew that they had meet eyes, and Jasper's throat burned with the fires of hate he had swallowed down for years.

Talon made sure he walked close enough that their shoulders brushed, but did not visibly check him, and it only enraged Jasper further. But he swallowed it down, and started back out, ready to be rid of this place.

He had a mission, and it was all that mattered.

* * *

Night was falling on Harmony again; BT and Hiromi had finished packing the jeep an hour or so ago and were sitting on the porch as she ate a meal and he relaxed in one of the rocking chairs. They were leaving tomorrow, at first light, to head back to her home so that BT could continue his searching mission for Jack. While Hiromi knew that she would probably never get anywhere once she was back, she had to at least show her parents she was alive.

Down in the field, they could see the dim glow of Uso's optic by Sola's grave.

"I don't think he's going to do it, Hiromi." BT said softly, and Hiromi put her empty plate aside.

"We still have time."

"Do we? We leave at dawn tomorrow, and he hasn't shown us even an inkling of the idea to come with us." Hiromi got up as BT spoke, then went over and offered her hand. BT, curiously, took it and she pulled him up.

"You just gotta trust me. Come on, let's go say our goodbye to my sister."

BT looked out at Uso, then back and made a soft nod; the two crossing down into the field. As they got closer, they could see Uso knelt down by it, seeming to be silently staring at it. BT didn't know what he was doing, but he could only guess he was living in the moment of sorrow.

"Uso?" Hiromi's voice broke the silence and the AI turned his head slightly, "We've come to say our goodbyes… may we join you?"

"Absolutely." Uso said, and Hiromi knelt to his left. BT followed suit on the other side, looking down at the plaque he hadn't visited since-

...since before Jack had vanished. BT tried not to think about that, looking around. The flowers had started to bloom slower, fall was coming. There was only one flower next to the grave now, mostly grass as far as the barrier.

"I am glad for the time we got to spend together, sister." Hiromi said, the two AI looking at her as she spoke, "Thank you for the strength you've given in the last three years. I hope one day I can do your memory some service."

A gentle wind blew through the fields, one of the last warm summer winds. BT shut his optic off, thinking deep of a time way back before he spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to visit long..." BT trailed off, but his thoughts continued, _I could really use some of that strength to find Jack... _"but we'll be back before you know it."

Hiromi smiled, and spoke again, "Take care of Uso, Sola. Goodnight, you two."

The young woman stood up, and BT followed after. Uso stayed in his spot as they started to turn and walk away, but paused when his voice broke the silence.

"She would be disappointed in me."

BT and Hiromi looked at each other, then to the AI still kneeling by the grave as Hiromi asked, "What do you mean?"

"I've been here since she died, eighteen years ago." Uso said, never looking up, "I told… I said I wanted to fade away and die, but I'm starting to feel like that's a disgrace to her. Your plan is… it's absolutely crazy and I'm not going to go along with it but, at least if I leave for a little while… maybe I can fix some of the things I broke when I abandoned the militia."

"That's a big step, Uso. Are you sure? ...they might not let you come back." BT said, knowing that even though most of the old militia was gone, the spirit of it never forgot those who wronged them.

"They can't keep me away forever. Besides, I'm immortal anyhow." Uso sighed, and unclipped one of the coon tails form the service handle on the back of his head, laying it by the grave, "Watch this for me, darling, alright?"

A petal broke off the flower by the grave and landed on the tail, the three staring in a curious wonder of the possibility of chance, or… something else. Uso only made a soft chuckle, turning to the two as he stood, "Get some rest, Hiromi. BT and I have some packing to do."

"Oh, rope me into this." BT joked, getting a stare that made him laugh. Hiromi smiled, and stepped forward, hugging Uso tightly. Unlike three years ago, and the first time she hugged him… Uso hugged her back.

"Thanks for believing, kid."

"I don't think it was just me." Hiromi smiled, stepping away and giving him a gentle kiss of the cheek plate, before going to BT and repeating the kiss, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The two AI's said in unison, watching the girls head over the hill towards the house before they started to head to the barn. It was a quiet walk, until Uso asked, "So who'd she pick up the cheek kiss from?"

"Who do you think?" BT said, and their laughed faded off into the winds of the night.

* * *

BT could tell that the city, at first, was slightly overwhelming for Uso after years of little to no interaction, but he was adapting rather well. It was Hiromi who was having an even harder time. She knew to always make herself as invisible as possible, but it was hard considering that the first thing they did when they got to the city was sell some parts.

Uso was sitting on an old war goldmine, having hoarded parts of all sorts of things from the last two decades. Once the people of the markets knew what they had, it was like a mob. Uso and BT took care of most of the bartering and moving, while they sent Hiromi to go scout around the shops. It was more so to let her have a breather.

Soon, everything including the jeep BT had purchased was sold, and the last bits were gone as Hiromi returned, slightly jogging.

"I found a battery shop!" Her voice was excited, and Uso perked up.

"Perfect, good job. Let's go grab some, and some real chargers." BT joked, elbowing Uso as he leveled a look that he knew was an exasperated glare. Hiromi giggled, and the three started to walk, chatting along the way.

Despite their upbeat mood, the three hadn't walked into the port town unprepared. They wore clothes and covers that made neither of the three identifiable, which was needed since some of the clans Uso and Hiromi had raided where regular visitors of this port town. Under their covers were their weapons, easy to reach and use, but not visible to the naked eye.

It was a short walk before they found the building and went inside, and Uso was amazed at the vast selections of _just batteries _. They were everywhere, from small earpiece batteries to what the two recognized as titan cores, tethered down to anything they could. A shopkeep was tinkering behind the counter, but looked up at the entrance.

"What can I help you with?"

"Stim batteries?" Uso asked, the man standing and leaning over, pointing down a shelf to his right, where the shop went deeper.

"Back wall, behind the shields. Let me know which you want and I'll grab them for you."

Uso nodded, hardly seen under the covers, and the three went back. They were gladly greeted by the wall of batteries, all shapes and sizes. The search was brief, and Uso tapped on the shield.

"There we go." He looked at the price tag, "A little inflated but that's reasonable. I wonder if he takes a core charge…"

"Think he has a place we can switch out your batteries?"

"Probably."

"You two take care of that, I'm going to get some supplies for the trip." BT said, the three agreeing on a meeting place and time before he departed from the shop. While he and Uso didn't need much, Hiromi needed something to survive the month long trip.

As he gathered the supplies they needed, his mind drifted back to the remembering of a time before. After the Bombs Fall on Harmony, the residents had to scatter to the stars, months of space travel that brought many to the brink and beyond the threshold of mental sanity. It was the only way to insure that the IMC didn't follow them, because even though you were winning a war, what good would it be if the people you were fighting for were dead?

It was still a shock to him that the war wasn't over, even after 18 years, but now the war was different. It seemed most of the fighting was done over the tables of politics, over whose planets were whose, over what planets were worth it to either side.

It sickened him, honestly. Jack had warned him of the politics of war, and he was sure the war would end before then. But since Jack's disappearance, as well as the 6-4's, Barker's liver failure, and Brigg's death in the bombing… There wasn't the same sort of drive anymore.

The children of the war past wanted nothing do to with the wars of their parents, and that seemed relevant to both sides. He only wished they realized what that meant for the places whose homes had been taken from them, to the places once lived that now could never be returned to.

BT thought about Jack. He wondered what he thought of this… even if he could think of this… he wondered if he'd be disappointed in it all.

And for the first time in almost a decade, he felt his link stir.

BT froze, shocked, and focused on that part of his sub-systems, almost not believing it. Moments passed, too long for an AI and he started to fear that it was just his system glitching. But no, there it was again.

A tremble, like seeing something trying to reach through a thick, heavy fog. Stronger now. He pushed back at it, trying to find it.

Then all at once, there it was. Complete connection. It hit him with such raw shock that he thought he'd been shoved, staggering. He could feel him, and it was like a breath of fresh air and a punch to the guts all at once.

_Jack? _

The shopkeep of the place he was standing by noticed his stagger, and stood a bit. "Are you alright?"

BT was brought to the real world for the moment, and set down the goods he had been intending to purchase. "I will come back, I may have found something."

"Ah, erm, alright…"

BT turned away, and reached out on the link, pulling as protocols of old began to reboot. There was no return pull but it was still there, and he was able to find a source, across the town. The old titan didn't hesitate, taking off in a jog.

As he ran, his mind was cycling a million questions. Where had he been? What happened? How had he stayed alive? He was excited, afraid; all the emotions he had experienced over the years were fighting for a place, and for a moment he could have sworn he was going to have a meltdown.

The source was so close now, and he slowed realizing he hadn't even bothered to keep an eye on his surroundings. This was the bad side of town, where the darkness of practices from the old wars and times before dwelled. Fear became prevalent, but not for himself. For a fear of what had happened to Jack that he would be in a place like this.

_What if he left on his own will? _

BT shook his head, gathering his thoughts and slowly making his way through the streets and alleys. Shady folks didn't even toss him a glance, they weren't interested in being seen, so why should they make themselves known by staring at another? He kept his head down as well, but an arm stayed under his cloak and on his gun.

The link pulled back, and he almost jumped in surprise. _Jack?! _

He realized he was so close, and began to walk quicker now, turning into an alley and slowly making his way towards the end of it. He didn't know what was on the other side, but he knew what he was going to say. His systems were calm, and he removed his hand from his gun.

At the end of the alley was a street with a dead end. There was a figure hunched over by a trash can, and this is where his link pulled the strongest from. If BT had a heart, it would be thumping in his ears from the nervousness as he approached, and put his hand out, touching the person's shoulder.

"Jack?"

An old man looked up, and BT knew this was not Jack. Confusion hit him, and he was dumbstruck long enough that he did not see the barrel of a gun point out from the folds of the old man's clothes until he was struck with a charged electroshock.

BT staggered back, systems glitching wildly as he tried to correct himself, standing in the middle of the street. The old man chucked something into the street with him, and he was again struck with an electric charge. Had he been human, it would have killed him, but instead it knocked him to his hands and knees, systems crashing and rebooting.

BT's hearing programs rebooted first, as he heard the loud whirring of a ship before something heavy landed on his back and he went to the ground. Ocular systems where next and he could see that it was a heavy, magnetic net. The old man got closer, pulling something off his face.

"Well well, we meet again, BT. Haven't seen ya since Typhon."

BT knew that voice, and struggled to lift his head. The 'old man' walked over and squatted down, and he was greeted with the aged face of Mercenary Kuben Blisk.

* * *

_**Join my Discord! YUeJ3at**_


	4. Chapter 4

BT couldn't believe it, staring in horror at the man standing above him. Kuben Blisk, a terror of his and Jack's life during their first mission together on Typhon, was still alive after all these years. A rise of anger filled him, recalling how many times Blisk had knocked him down, had almost killed him as he struggled to break free.

"Easy there, now. You're not getting out of that. Can't believe my luck, never thought I'd manage to find ya." Blisk's laughing voice was like an attack of its own, "Let alone catch you with this."

BT looked up to see him holding an odd device in his hand, something like a radio transmitter. Smirking, he twisted one of the dials and the titan's link started to clarify and tighten. He'd never known this was possible… but...

"How did you dial into my link?"

"A magician never gives his secrets away, at least for now." Blisk squatted down by him, making sure not to stand on the net, "Nice frame you have there, a lot better to hide in than that hunk of junk. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised, I'd heard rumors but never knew."

"This frame will make it a lot easier to kick your ass." BT's hateful snark brought another laugh.

"A curse! You've grown much. I suppose we'll have to catch up on the trip back."

_Trip? Oh shit._ BT thought. He was relieved that Blisk wasn't about to blow him to smithereens, but wherever they were going could prove much, much worse. He struggled again as Blisk stood up and whistled, the ship above making a grinding noise as the net moved, then stuck to BT. Slowly, it started to lift him from the ground and into the air.

"Besides, I have someone who wants to see you." Blisk's voice had a teasing tone to it. BT tried to broadcast to Uso for help, but he only heard static coming back. A jammer. Desperately, he tried for Jack's data-knife but he couldn't move with this net clinging to him.

For the first time in his creation, BT hated his link. Now, here he was, about to be taken away by a notorious bounty hunter instead of taking Hiromi home like he promised… it was up to Uso now… he hoped.

There was a loud pop as one of the street lights went out above him, and then a shout. BT looked down and saw a figure standing where Blisk was, and the old man now slumped against the wall. The figure looked up at him, and he saw the pink glow.

"BT!" Uso shouted before there was the sound of another pop. Looking around, he saw Hiromi on the roof, shooting out the lights in order to see the contraction pulling him up. The ship shuddered, but not from the attacks. Hiromi tried the cable first, the bullet being ineffective. Looking down, BT saw Uso scale the building and get onto one opposite of her, looking like he was going to jump over to BT.

"Don't, Uso! It's magnetic!" BT warned; the AI looked up at the ship as it made a loud groan. Bay doors opened and out of the ship's hull dropped an age old legion, rusted red paint and a battle-beaten Predator Cannon. The second it landed, it's gun went up and aimed right for the ledge Hiromi was firing from.

"Look out!" The two AI's shouted in unison as the woman narrowly avoided being turned to dust, rolling back further on the roof. Uso lunged from the building and onto the chassis, grappling around and grabbing for the batteries. The titan didn't have a lot of room to move in the alley, trying to figure out where Uso was.

A shot pinged off the hull as Blisk had gotten up, holding his side painfully, but his pistol was up and he was firing at Uso. The AI looked down, whipping his gun around but didn't get a chance to fire before the rusted titan let go of the predator cannon with a hand and swatted him right off.

Uso plowed into the alley, hitting a building at the end before Hiromi appeared back over the side and fired at the titan. She wasn't used to this sort of warfare and it showed as her shots did nothing, but the legion ignored her as he stooped, scooping up his pilot and putting him into the cockpit.

The machine shuddered as Blisk took control and he quickly turned to where Hiromi was, firing the gun again. She ducked away, and Blisk slowly turned the legion around to face BT.

"Brought some friends now, didcha?" Blisk's voice broadcast over the speakers, "Still can't save your own ass?"

That was a strong blow to BT's pride. Uso came into view again, jumping atop the titan and chucking a smoke grenade as he launched off, whatever he was doing was obstructed from view as the grenade went off. But BT could feel the cable shaking, and he guessed he was climbing up. Blisk's legion made noise that got a little quieter, him guessing he was trying to back out of the smoke.

The shaking continued until the net loosened, the magnetism gone and BT dropped like a brick. He hit the ground hard, but did not miss the whirring sound of the canon, and ran for cover as the concrete was blown to smithereens behind him.

"Uso! Hiromi! We need to get out of here!" He tried comms again, and got nothing but static. There was the sound of gunfire from Hiromi and he decided his first line of action would be getting her out of harm's way.

The legion's footsteps got closer. Ah yes, _that_ was an issue too. While BT was still wanting to know how Blisk had managed to hack into his link, them getting Hiromi out of there was a more pressing issue. Removing his gun from his side, he leaned around the corner and fired, a precise shot hitting one of the seven lenses attached to the main database optic. The legion winced back.

Uso dropped like a brick from above, landing on the legion again but they weren't having it. Anti-Rodeo smoke was deployed and Uso got the hell out of there, BT seeing him leap to the roof where Hiromi was. Blisk looked up, lifting the cannon and starting to fill the roof's ledge with lead.

BT wasted no time, running in the second the smoke and static died and lunging onto the Legion. Blisk reacted, letting go of the cannon again but he wasn't quick enough to stop BT from getting to the top. With brute strength, he grasped the top cockpit exit and twisted it until it popped open, then ripped it clean off.

He couldn't dodge the second grasp quick enough, as Blisk snatched him right off the top and brought him in front of his face. BT struggled in the monsterous grip, shouting in pain when the grasp got a tighter.

"Oh, you can feel that, can ya? How about this?" The grasped increased and BT shouted in agony. He and Jack had fine tuned a nervous system program long ago, and right now it was screaming from the pressure of the grip.

On the roof, Uso had let go of Hiromi when the shooting stopped and the two came out from behind their hiding spot of the brick roof access door, guns ready. They made it back to the edge in time to see BT snatched off. Uso knew that the legion could crush him in an instant.

"Uso, the hatch!" Hiromi said, and he looked to see that the top emergency exit was gone. Stepping back a few paces, he took a running leap off the roof and landed back on the hull, and looked in.

Uso was immediately greeted by the silver helmet of this new enemy, who he was so far having an issue identifying, looking right up at him. He pointed the gun right at the enemy's face, but against better judgement, didn't fire.

"Drop him. Now." Uso ordered firmly. BT made a noise like a gasp, and he was guessing the crushing stopped. The new enemy stared up at him, right into his optic, and their voice came through their helmet instead of the titan's speakers.

"You're that AI, arentcha? The one that the Militia had, the one that CHAOS wanted..." The enemies voice was smooth, calm. The name CHAOS, however, was like a punch in the gut; awful memories dredging up. Uso stiffened.

"What do you know about CHAOS?"

"I know enough. Uso, right?" The pilot held his hands up, as if showing himself unarmed despite being mentally able to use the titan he was piloting. "I heard about you from your big mission in Liona, you and your pilot. You wrecked a lot of havoc for not only IMC, but CHAOS that day as well."

"What's this got to do with anything?"

"You're an educated… erm, AI? I'm sure you've heard the saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"Well, that doesn't seem to be very truthful, considering you are trying to squeeze the life out of my friend." Uso deadpanned. The newcomer looked back forward, and laughed.

"I suppose."

"You let him go right now, and we can part ways peacefully. Otherwise, I'll pierce your helmet with this round and end it all now. Hate to leave your titan without a pilot, but if it's what I have to do, I'll do it."

"Pilot." A new voice entered the conversation, this time coming from the loudspeaker, "I believe we have come to a stalemate. Even if I deploy Anti-Rodeo smoke, chances of survival are slim."

The pilot held still, and slowly the legion moved under them. It bent forward, and dropped BT on the ground, him staggering but he didn't waste a second.

"Don't take your bead off him, Uso. He's a fucking trickster!"

"Again with the language! Jack didn't have such a mouth!" The pilot called.

"Who is this guy, BT?" Uso asked, not moving.

"Kuben Blisk, Leader of the Apex Predators." _So that's who this guy was._

"Blisk?!" Hiromi called, looking over the edge, "That guy's as old as the dinosaurs!"

"I take great offence to that, lady!" Blisk grunted.

"How did you hack into my link, Kuben?" BT demanded.

"I told you, a magician-" Blisk stopped as Uso put the infrared bead on his helmet, "You kids are never satisfied these days… I copied it."

"Copied it?" BT asked incredulously, "My link isn't part of any system, there's no way you could have."

"Did I say it came from your end?" There was an ear splitting silence as Uso pieced together what he meant and bore down, this time pressing the barrel to the helmet. The legion started to make a whir, "Woah, easy Corey, easy."

"Where the hell is he?" Uso's voice was threatening now.

"Out there, up there. Here, look, I'll cut you a deal. I'll take you to him, if-"

"There's no deal. You take us to him, or we blow a hole in your head." BT ground out, agitated.

"What's going to stop me from ejecting you three into space once we're all up there? You've got a squishy with you, you're not going to be able to keep your eyes on me ALL the time."

"BT, cool it down!" Uso ordered, BT not saying anything else, "... What do you want?"

"Not a lot, I've just had a few customers skip out on the bill. You're a smart AI, I'm sure a little bit of hacking won't be hard on you."

"Money? That's all?"

"Maybe a kiss from the lad-" Uso moved the gun and fired a round right at the pilot's feet, a perfect spot where the bullet lodged instead of bounced to kingdom come. The legion and pilot jerked, but didn't deploy the smoke, "Take a joke, take a joke!"

"The Money, for Jack. That's it."

"Very well, very well." Blisk slowly reached his hand out to Uso. The AI stared at it a moment, then removed his hand from the front of the gun and shook it back, "You have a deal. Corey, mount up."

The ship above them groaned and two big cables came down. Corey put his cannon away and Blisk slowly climbed out of the top of the hatch, grunting in pain, sitting on the edge of it.

"You broke my damn ribs."

"I'm not apologizing." Uso said as Hiromi leapt from the roof and onto Corey, looking at the cable as it maganitised to the giant hull. BT quickly jumped up onto the hull as well, never taking his steely stare off Blisk. He wasn't paying attention, looking at Hiromi curiously.

"Who are you?"

"Hiromi Vasello."

"Vasello? Like the Kione-Vasello family?" Blisk asked in surprise, then laughed as the realization hit him, "The same family who escaped in the Liona chaos. What are you doing out here?"

"Leave her alone." BT said, his voice threatening, and Blisk sighed.

"I'm not going to hurt her, Oscar and I had good relations when we had to work in the same vicinity. Not friendly but we could be respectful of each other's work."

"Him? Friendly relations with a bounty hunter like you?"

"Oscar wasn't an innocent man either… You know that, little lady?" Blisk stated flatly, but Hiromi didn't react one bit, "You ought to have taken your blessing of living through Liona by staying out of the war."

"The only reason I survived that is because of my sister. I owe her all that I am for what she did to get my family out of the Cores." They were lifted high enough that the hull closed beneath them and the magnetics let go, dropping them a few feet. Hiromi staggered and Uso was quick to grab her before the legion squatted, letting the four climb down.

"Get us going, Corey."

"Affirmative." The titan turned, picking up a giant cable and opening a service port on the side of his hull near his datacore, plugging in. His optic dimmed, and the ship started to move. The ship was old as the war itself, but it was small, making sense for the team of two. Blisk weakly coughed.

"Welcome to my home, good thing only one of you need sleep. It's a long way to where we're going. " He started towards the nose, and soon they were in a cockpit. The old man got himself into the pilot seat, and started to flip through controls. The ship rumbled as they entered the atmosphere, and then jumped away into Hyperspace. Uso looked around, amazed at the upkeep of the bounty hunter's ship. The only truly old thing on this ship was the titan, and that was understandable. Titan parts were hard to find nowadays.

"Where are we going?" BT asked, and Blisk hummed.

"Backwater planet that doesn't have a name, at least to anyone that matters. I just call it 'Water World'." Blisk laughed at some sort of inside joke, then grunted, "I need to patch myself up. Uso, if you want, you can hook into the Global Database from there." He gestured to the other seat, "It will be best to do the hacking while we're moving."

Uso looked at the seat, and then at BT. _I'll get to work, keep an eye on Hiromi?_

_No need to remind me. I can't believe you're doing this._

_You think he'll be the only one benefiting from this?_ Uso flicked playfully, and BT huffed as he sat down, plugged in, and darkened. Blisk got up, and looked at Hiromi.

"C'mon kid, I'll show you around, You're the only other human here, so you'll need to know where things are." Hiromi nodded at his statement, and looked back at BT. He gave her a gesture and they followed Blisk.

The old merc led them back to the main deck where Corey had unplugged himself, and pressed a button on the wall. Seams started to show and slowly, the corner they were standing in became a little sort-of living quarters, a whole kitchen extending from the wall.

"Sink, table, chairs. Here's the fridge, cupboards, and stuff to make food. Washing and drying machines are there, and then past that door is the loo and the shower." He gestured to the door down a ways, then pointed across the way at a pair of hammocks. "That's sleeping quarters. It's not much but it works."

"I would like to add that while I do not snore, Kuben's late night trumpeting may cause sleeping disturbances." Corey chimed in.

"Aye! Trying to be cheeky in front of a lady, I see?" Blisk scolded as Hiromi giggled at the legion. BT and the old war titan gave each other a leerly look of distrust but it was passing as Hiromi approached him, out of BT's immediate reach in a moment.

"Hiromi!" BT said, and started after her but Blisk only held a weak hand out, him looking at the merc in aggravation.

"She's fine, the big guy's a puppy. Got a soft spot for the ladies, she'll be just fine." He went to one of the seams and pressed, a first aid kit ejecting halfway. He removed it and plopped it on the counter, then sat down roughly in a chair. BT stared at him, trying to figure out how this old man was still alive.

As he stared, he wanted to ask about Jack. Was he alive? Was he okay? Was he a prisoner? But something in his gut stopped him. He was afraid, afraid to know the truth. _What if Jack was dead?_ What if this was some long ruse, just for Blisk to get the upper hand. His fist clenched slightly, and as much as he wanted to beat this man into oblivion, the chance that Jack was still alive and well and this man_ knew_ where was enough to make him decide otherwise.

"Do you remember Typhon still?" Blisk's voice shocked him, and he was ripped from his thoughts, looking down at the man. He was spraying a numbing agent on his old, scarred ribcage; shirtless now, helmet off.

"I dont forget things."

"How did you survive?"

"...I transferred my database to Jack's helmet."

Blisk laughed slightly, shaking his head in amazement, "I'm glad you two were able to stop that weapon. A job is a job, but there are always those I regret."

"Is that why you spared us?"

"No. To be honest, I still don't know why I spared you two. A recruiting opportunity, a moment of weakness before the kill, or maybe a genuine hope you two would pull through. I still try to find the answer myself, but I've drawn a blank all these years later." Blisk looked up, "I do want to apologize, however, for what my boys did to Lastimosa."

BT's systems cringed, even an old wound as such hurt like a fresh one, but the apology was a shock. He stared at Blisk, then shook his head and looked away. He hated having to remember how his first pilot died, because it only brought the fear of having to feel the same thing all over again.

"I'll take the apology better when you get us to Jack." BT said flatly, and Blisk nodded in agreement, going back to his wounds. BT looked back just in time to see Hiromi standing under the light of the legions' optics, reaching up in between his plating by the database and into the wiring. With the way the Legion was leaning heavily towards her, she must have found his sweet spot.

For the briefest of moments, BT swore Hiromi looked just like Sola, the grin on her face filled with joy and wonder of the macince from before her time. And with that brief moment of stunning resemblance, he prayed to whatever god existed up there that she didn't have to experience the same fate as her sister.

* * *

_**Join my Discord! /hemJZcr**_


	5. Chapter 5

Uso was done in four hours, able to find jobs with ease after Blisk had, knowingly or not, given him access to his entire system. He was careful to stay away from 'Corey' as to not let him know what was up, bouncing the money out of the 'customers' accounts and through many other hands before he stashed it in a dead man's account, and safeguarded it with digital booby traps and passcodes, there to sit until Blisk completed his 'deal'.

But for the rest of the ten hours he was planted in that chair, he did some research on the world past the militia.

Since the bombs had dropped, the surviving families of Harmony had hidden deep in the stars. This Uso knew, but he did not know what the IMC had done. To his surprise, he discovered one of the Core's primary Homeworld planets exploded into unrest between classes at the same time, and it was enough of a stink that the progression of the chase of the militia was brought to a screeching halt. It explained why there was no surging of ground forces after the bombs, a lucky break for Uso….

It was not a bloodless rebellion, and in the end IMC cut its losses and pulled out of the cores. This was not easy information to find, as a lot of the IMC 'news sources' told nothing of the Core rebellions or total withdrawal, but he did find the information through the freelancing groups and other mercenary chatter. It was amazing what people thought they could talk about 'privately' on the web.

In the meantime, the Militia had enough time to regather themselves and fight back with a vengeance. However, in the last two decades, hardly any ground was gained or lost by either side. Abandoned planets became merc and pirate breeding grounds like Harmony, and it seemed that the neutral party was starting to outnumber both sides.

People just wanted to pick up what they could and start over, no matter who's rule they were under. People who were tired of the fighting, but still had enough fight to protect what was theirs with dignity, but not enough fight to see the oppression that either side offered.

Uso was disappointed to see where the Militia had gone in two decades. It made sense why the 6-4 abandoned post, as well as many others, and why all of Blisk's jobs in the last few decades weren't affiliated with either party. He still didn't trust the man, but he could see why he was being compliant. He was changing with the world around him, because that's where the money went.

What a frivolous thing, money. He never once recalled Sola worrying about the issue, but he knew its importance, and wondered what brought men to greedily hoard the digital numbers beyond basic needs, like the dragons of children's fairy tales.

Shaking his head, he turned his attention to the hardest part of the job, searching for CHAOS. There was hardly anything from the last two decades, maybe a gigabyte of mentions or passing encrypted text but nothing that made sense or gave him any sort of lead. However, he did find one interesting thing in the form of a receipt.

_**COMMISSION : CHAOS**_

_**BOUNTY AWARDED PER HEAD - [REDACTED]$**_

_**-[REDACTED]**_

_**-BARBA**_

_**LOCATION : JERICHO TIME: [REDACTED]**_

_**TO BE COMPLETED UPON BROADCAST**_

Uso decided he was done for the day. Pulling himself back towards his datacore, he did double and triple checks for any malicious software before he returned, and found himself in the cockpit. Blisk was in the seat, asleep at the wheel as they still cruised through hyperspace.

Unplugging himself, Uso set the cable down and stood up with a stretch, not making any noise. He glanced at the control panel, and saw they were about halfway done with their trip, then checked his battery. It was so nice to see it wasnt even below 70%.

Making his way back out into the ship, he was greeted with an interesting sight. There was a projection on one of the walls, coming from one of the devices Hiromi always carried with her, and a sort of fisheye glass. It was some very old Core movie. On the far left sat BT, Hiromi in the middle and leaning against the giant leg of the legion on her right, who was crouched down watching the movie as well. It was so… odd.

Uso walked over and sat down by BT, who looked over.

"Done? That took some time." He murmured quietly.

"I was catching up on the times. What the hell is this?" Uso asked quietly, gesturing at Hiromi and Corey.

"They found out they both love Core movies." BT said exasperatedly, "They're 'besties' now, don't worry."

Uso made a gesture with his head that was like an eye roll, BT chuckling at him before the two got scolded with a 'shhh!' from Hiromi. The AI's fell into silence, but kept a watchful eye on the other two. Hiromi hardly lasted to the end of the movie before she fell asleep, Corey alerting them through the comms.

BT got up, going over to the girl and gently scooping her up, carrying her to the hammocks and setting her in. Hiormi yawned, but she was coaxed back to sleep as Uso brought over the unit for movies and turned it down, started the film over, then placed it on her chest so the noise would drown out the sounds past the hammock and she could get some sleep.

Leaving her there, the two came back to Corey. He was still crouched, looking at them curiously.

"How did you two obtain such small, versatile bodies?"

"An older militia scientist. He's gone now, but he figured out how to patch us in."

"I see. What has happened to your old bodies?"

"Mines back on that planet we left." Uso chuckled, and BT shrugged.

"Lost mine in the bombing, ship it was on vanished. Probably crashed."

"Do you know how to replicate the transfer program? I'm sure you could use a new body." Corey asked curiously. BT and Uso looked at each other.

"I suppose…"

"Won't work for me, I'm perma grounded to that old beast." Uso chuckled. He went to the kitchen area and sat on one of the chairs. BT came over and sat as well, and the Legion quietly shuffled over. Uso was still nervous but if Hiromi trusted him, he would be inclined to trust her judgement.

"Is she one of your pilots?" Corey's question startled them, looking at each other.

"N-No… She's… she's a family friend."

"Your family's friend or her family is your friends?" The advanced question surprised Uso but it was also a relief. He couldn't hold a conversation with a simple titan anymore, their lack of extendable knowledge hurt. However, he was sure Corey was old enough to be a little bit more advanced socially.

"Well, I suppose in Uso's case she's family, but in mine she's a family friend." BT laughed.

"How so?"

"My old pilot, they're cousins, but they were raised by the same parents so they could technically also be sisters," Uso explained.

"Your old pilot...I suppose she is the one that Kuben was thinking about that died on Liona, that the CHAOS agent killed." There was a silence for a moment, "Forgive me, I spoke out of place."

"No, it's alright. Yes, she was one of the many dead but I am going to guess he was thinking of the right one. Did… they know each other?"

"Before I was first commissioned to be Kuben's titan, he met Vice Admiral Kione-Vasello on several occasions, as well as the man's small children once. They were not friends, but they were friendly enough. In my pilot's memories, he thought of the little girl with golden eyes. He was very sad when he thought about her."

"Sad?" BT asked in surprise.

"Children are very sacred to Kuben, even as they grow older. From what I understand, your pilot died very young, and that also brings my pilot great pain. A familiar pain. I suppose he lost someone in the past, but he doesnt open up to me like that." The two AI's looked at each other in a shocked amazement, statements from one like them making a once enemy feel so… human. Corey noticed. "I understand why we have entered this agreement on shaky foundations, Unit BT. Our first meeting was not the best of meetings, however, that was twenty years ago. Much has changed."

"Has it?" BT asked, with a bit of venom.

"It has, but the playing face must remain the same. An egg appears as an egg but it is what is on the inside that counts, and it is what changes."

"Poetic!" Uso laughed, clapping gently, and Corey flickered at him, "I like him, BT."

"I have no qualms with you, Corey. But I will have to see it to believe it." BT said, "A rotten egg looks the same as the rest until you break it."

"Please remember what you said." Corey said suddenly, and there was a twinge of guilt in his voice. Uso caught it, but he could tell that BT didn't, however, so he said nothing. BT only shook his head, getting up and moving off somewhere else on the ship.

"Where are you going?" Uso called.

"Goanna go check on our flightpath." BT was not, as he was heading towards the aft and not the bow, but Uso didn't push it. Corey made a cycling noise, then looked back at the other titan.

"Unit Uso, I have a question."

"Sure, I suppose?"

"I apologize if I am prying but was it not Militia standard to have mental transmitter implanted in their brains when they passed successful pilot training?"

"Kione didn't pass, the director flunked her." Uso said gently.

"But she was able to pilot you, that means she had a transmitter of sorts."

Uso looked over, confused, "What are you saying?"

"When a pilot dies, their conscious mind is moved to the militia database so that they can be uploaded to a stim frame. It is standard procedure, and you have to request to not have the backup implanted but most do. Have you ever wondered to check and see if she was there?"

Uso stared at Corey, then said "Yes…. Yes I did. I know what you speak of, but Kione… I think she opted out, she's gone. I am connected to the database, I would have found her."

"I understand… If the procedure still exists, you should convince Hiromi to get it."

"Why?"

"She told me about what she wants to do, to CHAOS. It will be a hard mission." Corey stood and moved over to one side of the ship, pressing a slot. Seams showed and a shelf ejected, and he waved Uso over. Curiously, the AI got up and came over, and gaped. On the table was two hearing-aid like devices, sealed in an airtight package, unused and unopened. There was six of them, all untouched. "She should have these installed."

"How do you have these?"

"A medical raid Blisk conducted several years ago, he managed to grab several packages. The smaller piece, that is for the brain. The bigger piece is what you place on the new frame for the upload."

Uso picked up a package, looking at it, and nodded. Opening a compartment on his chest, he put the package in a special compartment, and closed it. "Thank you, Corey."

"You are welcome, but do be careful you never attach the receiver side to a running STIM, like yourself."

"Why?"

"It will wipe them clean, effectively deleting the whole AI, like shooting one in the head. Complete and utter system wipe." Corey warned, and Uso nodded slowly.

"I'll be careful. You want me to send your pilot down so he can get some sleep?"

"No, give it a few hours, he will come down on his own." Corey said, going back to his spot, "I am going to have to pilot anyhow, the next stop is coming up. Thank you for speaking with me."

"Thank you for the info."

Corey brightened, then plugged himself back in, and went silent. Uso looked at the shelf slot, and back down at his chest where the compartment was. Something in his systems mourned Sola's choice, but it was her choice… and he would never take that from her.

* * *

The rest of the flight was about fifteen hours; Blisk and BT had a little bit of tense air but it was mostly dissolved by Hiromi. She was a sweet girl but she wasn't a pushover and could easily defuse tension by just being herself, and being herself meant roping Corey into most of it. She was most excited by his giant frame, since she never was allowed to touch Uso's. On top of that, she would rope the other two AI's to help her if she noticed something was broken on Corey, which turned out to be a lot of things. They made sense, Blisk was old and most spaces he couldn't reach his hands into to get the panels off.

Corey appreciated it greatly, and despite the two AI's being standoffish at first they eventually came around, considering Hiromi was willing to do the work herself if they pointed her the right way. The two humans fell asleep on the last leg of the journey, before Corey woke everyone up by accidentally jerking the ship out of hyperspace.

"What in the bloodly fuck, Corey?!" Blisk shouted.

"I apologize. That was supposed to be smaller but we ran out of Hyperfuel and the brake fully compressed." Corey explained, his pilot getting out of the hammock and making his way to the front. Hiromi climbed out of her bunk as well, and the three made their way to the cockpit.

Before them was a small, blue planet. Uso realized it was entirely water as they got closer, and Hiromi made a soft 'wow' sound. Blisk sighed, "Home sweet home…" They slowly descended onto the planet, and as they did they could see the city pop up.

"A city?" Hiormi asked, "How does that work?"

"It's floating. This is Collia, one of the bigger places, best to blend in. Alot of folks passing through, so it makes it easy to come and go. No one asks questions, no one knows if you live here or not." Blisk descended on the city, slowly pulling into a starport and setting the ship down on command. Uso could hear it was Corey who did the conversation with the ground crew over the comms. The second they set down, Blisk started to shut everything off.

"Alright everyone, pull on your hoods and jackets. This isn't my home, so we don't want to be spotted in the area." Blisk warned, and they quickly got their garbs, guns, and hoods back on. Corey and Hiromi said their brief goodbyes, making Uso and BT look at each other nervously before she joined the group.

Blisk flipped his hood on and opened a very small side door, calling back "Lock her up!" as they exited. The ship went dark, and when Blisk let go of the door they could hear it whir and click as the whole thing locked down. Hiromi frowned.

"Does… he just stay there in the dark?"

"For now, we're normally not here long. Don't worry kid, I have my own hanger at my place."

"Then where the hell are we?" BT asked, and Blisk looked back at the agitated optic.

"I'll show you soon enough." They traversed the hanger until they went to a pair of doors, Blisk sliding a keycard and it opened. Inside, they were greeted with Guards, and Hiromi gasped. "Keep moving, heads down."

Uso took Hiromi's hand without much thought and pulled her along, making sure she didn't stop. They went through another pair of doors and were greeted with a massive lobby, but very few people. However, not far ahead of them was desk, with four more guards, and the person behind the desk.

"Hello, Mr. Blisk….. It is unlike you to have guests here." She said calmly, and the old man nodded.

"Last stop, had to grab the rest of the gang first."

_Rest of them?_ BT asked angrily, but Uso shushed him. He could tell the other AI was getting agitated. It was strange and very unlike BT, in Uso's opinion. But he couldn't blame him, if this was the first time he'd had a lead on Jack in a decade….

"They know they have to hand in their weapons?"

"Absolutely. Hand them up, boys."

For a moment, The two AI froze, immediately feeling like this was a huge mistake. But Hiromi did not wait, reaching into her jacket and surfacing her rifle, placing it right on the desk, followed by her pistol. The clerk smiled.

"Thank you. Anymore?"

Uso quickly followed suit but kept his cool, and finally, with a little hesitation, so did BT. Blisk handed his up last, as well as his prized knife.

"Thank you. Please go through the doorway, you may take elevator six. Before you go, do any of you have any modifications or metal enhancements?"

"These two do but they're implants, so they're going to set off the whole machine." Blisk said nonchalantly. The woman typed something, then waved.

Blisk went through, and followed by Hiromi. Uso looked back at BT, and went through. It felt like he walked through a goo wall, and on the other side there was a sudden beeping. The guard stepped forward, waving a wand over him, then gesturing forward.

Uso stepped over to the group, and looked back as BT stepped through. The doorway made a slightly louder beep, and the guard swiped him over, stopping on his upper chestpiece.

"Got something to declare?"

"I apologize, it appears I forgot a knife." BT said, and to Uso's relief, the guard snickered.

"It happens a lot. Here, drop it in the basket and we'll put it with your belongings." BT slowly removed the knife. Uso now realizing why he had been hesitant, it was Jack's DataKnife. The man peered at it when BT dropped it into the bucket. "Old war relic?"

"Collected it a few years ago."

"A rarity. Have a good day, sir."

BT approached the group and Blisk glared at him before walking across the lobby and into the elevator. BT immediately flipped his hood off.

"Where the fuck are we?!" He asked angrily, stepping towards Blisk, but Uso put his arm out to guard him.

"Easy, easy!" Blisk hissed, but BT was aggrivated now. Hiromi, however, spoke up.

"This is the Nuranii Holding Cells, aren't they?"

The three looked at her, and BT asked "The what?"

"It's like a safehouse for valuable things. Art, Relics, People… Bodies…" She trailed off and BT looked back at Blisk, but Uso was fast, stepping into him and pressing him against the wall.

"BT, listen to me. _Listen to me_." He said firmly, holding him back, "Look, he's brought us this far, don't fuck it up now. You want to know what happened, don't you?" BT looked at Uso in the optic, a moment between them before the younger AI said, "We have to choose what programs to suppress, and act upon them wisely."

BT stared at him, and the elevator started to slow. Uso let go and stepped back before pulling his own hood on, and looked at Blisk. He and Hiromi were staring at BT, as if waiting, and the old war AI made a sound like taking and releasing a deep breath.

"We shall see, then." He gently pulled his hood back up before the doors opened. Two more guards were on the other side in the hall, and they stepped aside. Blisk walked out, and the group followed.

It was hallways upon hallways of doors with big, frosted windows between them, as if there was something to see on the other side. The hall was cold, and Uso could see Hiromi's breath. Blisk brought them to a door, labeled 87L, and slid his keycard into it.

"You can go first, BT."

The door slid up, and BT was greeted, to his shock, by a warmly lit hallway. It was small, only wide enough for one person to go through at a time so he made his way slowly inside. He could hear the others come in, and looked back to see Blisk come in last, shutting the door behind him.

Turning his attention forward, BT slowly exited the hall to be greeted with something he did not expect. To his immediate left was the other side of the frosty window and a whole living room setup, a couch with a coffee table and a projection screen. In front of him a walkway to the kitchen on the furthest wall, a dining room table to his frontish right, and a glass door with a 'balcony'. It looked like another planet out there, and he realized a moment later that it was Harmony.

Slowly, he moved forward. Straight ahead, the 'walkway' lead to a closed door, a doorway to the right of it, and a half-open door to the left. A brief glance to the right showed him a workout room, and through the doorway a bedroom. The bedroom had a desk, and a twin bed.

"Wow…" Hiromi said gently, looking around. The place was mostly lit by the sunlight of the patio, what BT realized was just another room with a projection but it was pumping in fresh air and the sound of Harmony's creatures. There was some decor but no pictures, however there were hanging frames of some sort of writing. "What is this place?"

Blisk went to the middle, closed door, and knocked, "You still kicking, Cooper?"

There was a sound like something was dropped, then a curse, and a voice said weakly on the other side said "Yeah, yeah…. Hold on, Blisk."

BT looked right at the door in shock. Uso looked as well, that voice… was it? The door opened a second later, and the being coming out froze on the spot. For a moment, BT didn't know who it was but the seconds passed and he gasped in shock.

"BT?"

"... Jack?"

* * *

_**Notes: Join my Server! /YUeJ3at**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hi guys!**_  
_**I normally don't do Author's Notes but I wanted to let you know that updates are going to slow down for a little while again. I'm starting a new job that requires a two hour commute daily for at least two weeks to do training and I've been having a lot of vehicle trouble, causing me to have to put my spare time into fixing them before the next job starts. I have the Chapter 7 finished, my editor is going through it now but Chapter 8/9/etc might take two weeks to a month.**_  
_**Thank you everyone for your support, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_  
_**-Danii**_

* * *

Jack had aged so much, his face was wrinkled slightly and his hair was salt and pepper. He didn't have a shirt on and BT saw in shock that he was totally missing an arm from the elbow down, a whole mechanical replacement. He had scars as well, new and old, but he looked healthy and still in shape.

"Jack?" Hiromi asked, and Jack looked over, seeing the other two before becoming white as a sheet, and he suddenly collapsed. BT rushed forward, catching him before he hit the ground, and he was swarmed by the rest of them.

"Is he alright?"

"He's fainted." BT said, quickly sitting him up against the wall, "Hiromi, get me some water."

Hiromi obeyed, and came back with the glass as Jack was coming back around. He groaned, and weakly opened his eyes, looking around faintly.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" He asked.

"What makes you think that?"

"All three of you… you're all here." Jack said. BT realized that Jack must have mistaken Hiromi for Sola. Hiromi realized it too. Blisk laughed, muttering something along the lines of 'If you were dead, I wouldn't be here…'

"No, you're very alive."

Uncle Jack, it's me, Hiromi. We came to find you." Hiromi said gently.

"Good to see you're alright, Jack." Uso said with a smile in his voice. Jack looked around at them before his eyes settled on BT, and they began to water.

"BT…"

"C'mon Jack, let's get you to the couch." The three helped him up and over to the couch and sat him down, Hiromi giving him the water. He sipped it slowly, weakly, then coughed near the end. Uos left, a returned to give Jack a sweatshirt, seeing that he was shaking. His eyes were still rushing with tears, looking at the three of them.

"I can't… How did you find me?"

"Blisk." BT said, gesturing to the merc, who was leaning against the corner. They shared a… leery look, it seemed. As if Jack was doubtful, and Blisk seemed guarded.

"Did you have to force him to find me?" Jack said, and Blisk made a scoffing sound, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

"We struck a deal." Uso said.

"Hm, funny. So did we." Jack said again, rubbing his eyes as he snorted up any moisture in his nose. Questions started to flood BT's mind, filling him with emotions he quickly squashed.

"Jack… what are you doing here?" BT asked, reaching out and touching his metal arm. Jack looked down at his hand, and reached with the new appendage to touch their fingertips. It was cold.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm stuck… no, I'm _trapped _here."

Uso and Hiromi looked at each other, before she asked softly, "Trapped?"

"I'm a museum exhibit to those willing to pay enough to come see me." Jack said bitterly, "And sometimes a soldier, when a certain man needs it."

"We stuck up a deal, too." Blisk said flatly, inspecting his nails boorishly. Jack glared at him angrily, but didn't say anything else.

"Have you been here since you were taken?" Hiromi asked, and Jack shook his head.

"I… think so? The IMC bounced me around for a few months… I lost my arm during that time, then I was on another transport when Blisk broke in and grabbed me. He brought me here… god!" Jack rubbed his face, "I don't know when, but he stuck me in here unless he needed me for his dirty deeds."

"Don't make it sound like you didn't enjoy it." Blisk said saucily, and BT leveled an optic at him, "Besides, I neva made you my bitch, it wasn't that bad."

"It was that or go back to the IMC." Jack deadpanned.

"That won't happen." BT said firmly, and gently wove his fingers with Jack's as he looked back to him, "I promise it."

Jack looked at him, a melancholy expression before he nodded, then asked, "What now?"

"We go." BT said, and Blisk cleared his throat.

"Actually, I don't think you will be going." The four looked as Blisk spoke, still leaning against the wall. He was still looking at his hand, but there was a smirk on his face.

"We had an agreement." Uso said darkly.

"An agreement to _take _you to Jack. I never agreed past that. See, I-" Blisk didn't get to finish whatever he was saying as BT stood up, stepped right over and landed a punch square on his cheek. There was a sickening snapping noise as bones broke, and he tumbled to the ground with a gurgling noise. BT didn't give him a second, stooping down and grabbing him by the collar with one hand and lifting him off the ground.

"You listen here, you sleazy sack of shit." BT's voice was low, deadly as Blisk coughed around the blood in his mouth, "I will beat the living tar out of you, send you to hell and pull you right back to beat you until you crave that little sip of death you got. We. Are. _Leaving. _"

Blisk made a snorting sniffle, and started to hold up his hands before there was the sound of a doorbell. All heads turned to the glass, not the door, where the sound was heard from.

"What was that?"

"A visitor." Jack said, "Who in the hell is it-"

There was a light rapping on the glass, before they could see a hand press against the other side of the foggy window. It was splayed wide, and Jack turned with a cuss. He went to the glass, and hit a button beside it for the intercom.

"I'm not seeing visitors right now. Please go away."

"_ Really? Not even for an old friend?" _A voice spoke, raspy. Across the room, Uso became rigid, and BT felt an odd feeling of knowing that voice.

"No? Please go away before I call security."

"_ Oh, you mean these guys?" _There was a horrifying thudding noise as a round shape hit the window, something wet splattering against it. Jack reeled back, BT dropping Blisk to grab Jack by the back of the shirt and pull him to his chest.

"We need to go, now!" Uso said, turning to Hiromi, "Build it!"

"Build-" BT looked over but Hiromi flipped her cloak aside, and started to take bits from her armour that looked like they detached, building something in her hand. All the while, the person on the other side made no sounds.

Uso went over to Blisk, yanking him up, "Hey, hey! Listen to me!" The old man held up a hand slightly, as if to block an incoming blow, "Are there anymore exits besides that door?! How do you leave?!"

"N-Not that I know of." Blisk stated, standing on his own feet, and surfaced a key card. Uso turned and shoved him down the hallway.

"Wait for my signal!"

"_ I'm not going to wait forever Jack. How about I count from ten? Ten... Nine… Eight..." _

"Hiromi!" Uso said, and BT looked back to her to see she had… built a gun. Entirely from bits of her armour. She removed a clip from a hidden slot and slapped it in, and he saw light blink on the side.

**_That sunnova bitch built her a skeleton gun._**

"Done!" She said, and pointed it at the window.

_"Five." _The voice was punctuated with a knife stabbing through the glass, and then the attacker started to wiggle it, cracking it slowly. _"Four." _

**_"BT, take the gun and when he bursts through here, get them the hell out of here."_**Uso said over the comms. BT didn't wait, taking it and shoving Hiromi and Jack towards Blisk.

**_"What about you?"_**

**_"I have some trash to clean up."_**

_"Three! Two!" _The knife was removed and there was a creaking noise, then the room filled with the grand sound of shattering glass. In the empty frame of the once frosted glass stood a darkly clothed pilot. His red, illuminated helmet glass was shaped like a "T". He turned, and tipped his head. "You are not Jack."

"I am not." Uso's voice reverberated, his fight tightening, "We have unsettled business, _Talon _."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"You will." Uso bolted across the room and into Talon's face, throwing jabbing punches. The other easily blocked it, swinging the knife in his hand but missing as Uso was prepared. He leaned away, and swung a roundhouse kick that impacted Talon's waist.

The attacker went into the wall that the projector hung from, Uso looking back and shouting "**_GO!_**" The door in the hallway busted open and the other four ran for it. Talon sat up, and realized what was happening.

"You little-!" Talon got up, two bounds getting him back into Uso's range and swung. Uso ducked the knife, and plowed into the other AI's chest, crashing them into the kitchen. He heard the crunch of metal as Talon implanted the knife in his back, but managed to lay the other out on the floor. Pulling a fist back, he landed a skull-shattering punch into the helm, cracking the tiles on the floor.

Three punches was all he got before the AI clocked him over the side of the head with something from the floor, throwing him back. Systems quickly rebooted as he saw Talon getting up and rushing for the broken glass. Shaking his head, he gave pursuit, just in time to catch him prying open the elevator doors.

Uso didn't wait, he didn't think, he just ran and tackled Talon. He staggered, and the two started falling down the elevator shaft.

* * *

Hiromi had spammed the elevator button to close, then felt the lift descend before she turned angrily to Blisk, "Who the fuck was that?!"

"I haven't a clue! I didn't fucking invite them!" Blisk cursed.

"I knew that voice." BT said, "We need to get out of here."

"What about Uso?" Jack asked.

"We don't have our weapons, besides you, lass. The guards will help him." Blisk said firmly, his drying blood having stopped most of the blood flow out his nose. There was a loud thud above them, and they all looked up.

"Are you _sure _about that?"

"Get down." BT said as Hiromi pointed the gun at the ceiling, her and Jack squatting in a corner, Blisk ducking in the opposite, "How long till we're at the bottom?!"

"Thirty seconds." Blisk said, then grabbed the wall as the lift shook, and jerked to a stop. The lights blacked out, followed by the emergency lights, "Or if we free fall, ten."

"That's certain death." BT went to the doors, prying them open to be greeted with a wall, and the top half of some doors at their foot level. Desperately, he tried to pry them open, grunting with the strain. Above them, they heard Uso make a bleat of static, and the fighting stopped.

BT got the door open, to be greeted by two guards. They looked confused until Blisk shouted, "There's a fucking invader, he's trying to kill us! Sound the fucking alarm!"

The lift jerked and Hiromi shouted in fear as they dropped four feet, BT sliding down the open doors. The guards looked up at whatever they saw and pointed their weapons, firing immediately. The attacker was coming right at them, and Hiromi watched in horror as Talon thrust his hand through the first guard's chest, blood spraying in all directions.

BT quickly let go of the doors for the hall, them snapping shut and jumped in the lift. It shook slightly, and Blisk hung for dear life to the rails.

"What in the fuck are you doing?!"

"Getting us away from him!" BT said back, and jumped again. The whole lift was in free fall for a moment, Hiromi watching three floors pass by then dropping her gun as the lift jerked, stopping halfway between levels, a foot accessible to each door.

BT laid down, quickly pushing the doors open to the lower level and holding them, "Jack, Hiromi, out! Now!"

Hiromi didn't wait, squirming out and dropping to the floor. The guards looked confused but a moment later, the alarm started to go off, a flat voice warning "Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert."

"There's a red-eyed AI chasing us!" She said, Jack quickly dropping out behind her, "He's three floors up!"

The guard got on his radio quickly, Blisk sliding out. The lift jerked again, and BT's grasp slid down to the floor. A second pair of hands wedged their way in, and a pink optical illuminated the elevator shaft as the doors were shoved all the way open. The lift was at the halfway point, BT just had to climb up...

"Uso!" Hiromi said. The AI had a knife in his chest, him looking down at her.

"Run! Hurry!" Uso shouted as a shape dropped down behind him. The elevator fell again, Uso and BT vanishing but the door stayed open. Hiromi's heart dropped to her stomach, and she started to run towards the shaft, but Jack stopped her.

"No, no, we need to go!"

"But-"

"They can handle themselves. We need to go!" Jack said firmly, and she looked at him in shock, but nodded. He tugged her along and the guards led them to another elevator, and stuck them in.

"This will take you to the main level. Our forces will handle the threat."

"No need to tell us twice." Blisk said, and the doors slid shut. There was a click of a hammer, and Hiromi gasped, looking back to see that Blisk had grabbed her gun, and was pointing it at them.

"You sleazebag." Jack said lowly, "I trusted you."

"I didn't invite the new character, but I'll tell you what, that timing was _impeccable. _Now, you two are going to do what I say, or I blow your head off, Lass."

"What do you want from me?" Hiromi ground out.

"Nothing much, but I've got a score to settle with your father. You're taking me to him, understand?"

"You'll have to kill me before I do that."

Blisk stepped forward, pressing the gun to her head, but Hiromi didn't let any words come out of his mouth when it started to open. She shot her hand up, palm connecting with the gun and pointing it up as she connected her knee with his groin. Blisk made a gasping sound of shock, and she quickly took the moment to disarm him by grabbing his arm and bringing his elbow down on her thigh.

There was a sickening snap, and he made a roar of pain, dropping the gun as he grasped his elbow. Jack dove for the firearm, snatching it up and pointing it at Blisk. Hiromi didn't know what happened, but she watched as Jack and Blisk made eye contact, and then a gun went off.

* * *

Uso's optic fluttered, but all he saw was darkness. He hurt. It had been a long time since he hurt, but he hurt with a horrible pain. Was this it? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was Jack and Hiromi before he fell… but when did he hit the ground? He tried to move, but nothing responded to his commands.

...was this the end?

Shuttering his optic off, he tried to do a damage report. So far, most things were not responding, however his battery pack was still charged._ Ironic, _he thought. He tried to turn his head to the side, the soft glow of a light showering him. His body listened this time, and his proverbial 'blood ran cold' at the sight of a familiar hand.

"BT?" Uso's voice box was warped, and he started to urge his systems to reboot faster. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to roll over and moved the debris out of the way. What awaited him was a gruesome sight, the box was crushed beneath him, the AI smashed between the metal. His optic, however, was still on. "Fuck, BT…"

"I am alright… but… I don't think I can get out." BT's voice wavered in his voice box. Slowly, Uso tried to stand, only to find one of his legs completely blown out.

"We can get you out, BT. Just… give me a minute…" Uso said, and started to pull the roof away. It was hard work, his systems were still restarting but he soon had a lot of the panels pulled away. BT's body was mangled, and his opti was flickering, dimming down by the minute. The only thing blocking him was the bars….

"Uso, it's no use…" BT said weakly, and Uso looked back at him.

"I'm not leaving you here, not when we just got Jack back."

"My battery is destroyed, I don't know how much reserve power I have left." BT's voice shook, and Uso felt a panic rise, "This is it."

"No it's not! Open your wireless commands and connect to the server, BT. Do it!" Uso commanded. BT fell silent, but he saw him come online in the old, abandoned database, "I see you. Okay, here, take this, I want you to open-"

Someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked, and Uso was thrown back into the wall, bleating static. He felt the knife come out of his chest and get stabbed into his shoulder, making a cry of shock as his arm fell limp.

"You know… I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize who you are," Talon said darkly, but it was strained, his dented and cracked helm inches away from Uso's optic. He had taken some damage in the fall as well. "USO-2783, piloted by the brave Lieutenant Sola Kione! She's been dead, what... two decades now? A shame, she deserved better than being stabbed in the back. But, Jasper was never a man of honor."

Uso snarled, trying to kick him away but it was slow and weak, Talon ignoring it. He drew a gun, and hummed, looking at it before down at BT.

"BT-7273, The legend! I've been hunting you for a while now… Surprise surprise, we both find Jack at the same time, Hmm? I hope... you two enjoyed your little reunion, while it lasted." Talon's voice darkened, and BT could only stare as Talon limped over, aimed the gun at his head.

"No!" Uso screamed in horror, trying to get up but his leg caused him to stumble, and he fell to his knees.

"Uso-" Too late, BT's voice was drowned out by the gunshot's echo in the elevator shaft, Uso lifting his head to watch as BT's optic flickered and died out, smoke rose from the holes in his chassis. Uso cried out; a long, low wail that became frantic at the end. Talon chuckled, holstering the gun.

"I would kill you, but we both know what you can do. I've read your file, how Jasper saw you explode on the floor like a fucking light bulb. So I'm going to save my last clip for Jack, and that little girl with him." Talon walked over, and withdrew his knife, "Or maybe I'll skin her alive…"

Uso roared in rage, letting himself fall to his back as he swung his surviving arm out, knocking the other AI to his back. Talon dropped the knife, and he didn't waste a single second to snatch it up, and drive it right into the other's chest.

Talon made an electronic yelp of sorts, but Uso didn't stop. He held onto the handle tightly, driving it into the other AI's chest and neck over and over… A fist connected with the side of his head and Uso cried out, rolling away. His optic glitched, sensors going haywire. The punch had been a direct hit to the exposed motherboard on the side of his head, a piece of shell missing from the fall.

Talon got up, staggering as he drew the knife out of his chest, making what sounded like coughing. He was frantic, desperately trying to claw his way out of the pit. Uso shook his head and rolled back on his chest, ferociously clawing after, but Talon escaped at the last possible moment, pulling himself over the edge, and vanished.

Uso screamed after him, then set his head down in exhaustion. His systems were fried, trying to stay firing on soft restarts. He was afraid, afraid of doing a hard restart, what if he didn't come back to this body? What was going to happen to him?

He didn't know, and swallowed, whispering "I'm sorry…" before his optic dimmed, and clicked into standby, Uso's whole AI crashing into the database.

* * *

_**Join My Discord! /YUeJ3at**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Happy Valentine's Day!**_

* * *

BT didn't know where he was.

All he knew is that he accepted the file that Uso had sent him and that his conscious mind started to be sucked into the program he ran. Talon had then approached, and his connection to his old body was severed. Now, he was standing in a vast rainfall of code. He looked around, then at his hands again.

Blue lines of code.

He'd never seen anything like it before, it was fascinating. But he didn't know what to do with it. Everywhere he looked, there was just… code.

_Uso?_ His voice didn't come from his mouth, only echoed in the darkness_. Hello? Anyone... Where am I?_

_**BT…**_

A voice called to him, and he swung around, shocked. But there was still nothing but code. However, some of it looked… different. New colors. Slowly, cautiously, he moved towards them, reaching out and touching a vein of code. He was sucked away, falling for a moment before he was suddenly in the whiteness of a place he'd never been.

It was so, white. There was nothing else, nothing but absolute _white_. He quickly looked at his hands to see the fingers of his old stim frame… was he dead now? A little fear tingled in the back of his head, and he meekly called out "Hello?! Uso?"

"Hello." BT turned, frightened by the female voice that spoke to him, and if he'd have a skin, he'd certainly jump out of it. Standing before him, not five feet away, was Sola.

But it wasn't.

Half of her was gone, like she was a glitch in the system. He could see active bits of code floating around her… her and her dead, blank stare. It was unnerving, terrifying almost. He stepped back, and the half-body didn't move.

"S... Sola?"

"I do not have a designation. Tell me, what is the purpose of your appearance?" The voice was so robotic, so rigid, but it was Sola's. BT was horrified, what the hell was this?!

"I… Uso gave me the file, and… I touched some… code? And wound up here."

The glitch was still, her eyes blank before she said, "It seems that USO-2783 has taken your primary files and moved them. My function is to place you into a new body using the RESPAWN program. Locating body."

"A body? Wait, does that mean I'm…part of the militia database now?!"

"Yes. You also contain a copy of Unit USO-2783's RESPAWN code, meaning you are now capable of coming back here should your body be destroyed."

"To… you?" BT's voice didn't hide his sharp hiss of disgust.

"I apologize, my appearance is not the best." The program, he decided that's what 'she' must be, said "I am an unfinished addition, I have not been updated for 75 months. Your body is ready. Would you like to awaken?"

"...yes. Yes I would."

"Booting sequence initiated. It was good to meet you, Unit BT-7273." Sola bowed, and for a moment, he thought he saw something behind her. Maybe it was a glitch, but for a brief moment, he thought he saw another Sola.

The feeling was like falling through honey, him dripping down… down… down and then suddenly he was booting up. He couldn't see anything but his systems were fast to activate, and when he could move, he did. He found he was covered with a tarp, throwing it off, and sat up.

It was dark, but not pitch black. Once he adjusted his vision, he could see that he was in a sort of cellar, and all around him…were stims. They were laying covered on tables, hanging on racks in pieces, or just heaped in a corner. There had to be at least forty of them.

Slowly, BT got up, and felt something pull. Looking down, he noticed he had a weak battery pack hooked to a constant power stream, and after an unplug, got an estimate of roughly 48 hours. Not that bad, he could sit and recharge back here, right…. But, where was here?

Finding a ladder, BT scaled it and pushed the hatch door open. He wasn't shocked as he met resistance, pushing harder and harder until there was the sound of wood snapping, and the hatch swung up, opening. Climbing out weakly, BT gapped.

He was back in the barn, on Harmony, staring at the feet of Uso's titan frame.

Uso had a whole fucking bunker of bodies down below. Where the hell did he get these from?! Climbing out of the hatch, he shut the lid and quickly started to gather tools, trying to do a check-up on himself and make sure everything was working and so far, besides the battery… he was alright.

Shaking his head, he tried to figure out what he had seen. Why had Uso created a SOLA program? Was he lonely, bored, unable to let go? All of those seemed like reasonable answers… but then, why did she look like that?! Maybe making her look exact was too much?

BT finished his checkup with no damage, and looked at the giant titan frame before him. He suddenly had a very, very uncomfortable thought cross his mind. If Uso had built a program… Slowly, BT approached the giant titan, climbing up the side and opening the hatch. He turned on his shoulder flashlight, and looked inside.

"...holy fuck."

* * *

Uso's ocular systems were the first to come back online, but he wasn't surprised when the picture was blurry. He could see shapes, movements, and after a moment his sounds system rebooted, they too were a garbled mess. He groaned gently when the vocal systems rebooted, but he couldn't move.

A figure leaned over him, and the image cleared to show Hiromi. She looked worried, tear stains in her eyes.

"Uso?"

"Hey kid. You okay?" He managed to lean up, but made a gasp of surprise when Hiromi suddenly hugged him about the neck, shaking. "Hey, woah, it's okay. I'm fine."

"We thought you were dead…"

"No, I'm alright." Uso patted her back, and looked around. There were a few guards and some people he didn't know, talking to each other and kneeling down by BT's lifeless frame… was Jack. Just staring, unmoving. "... Jack?"

"Where is he, Uso?" Jack's voice was flat, almost emotionless.

"I put him in the database. He should be safe there, if not already in a new shell… How did you know?"

"I felt him start to fade on our link. But he didn't vanish. He just felt like he's felt for the last decade: Missing."

Jack bent over the body and started to remove things, personal effects. Uso turned his attention to Hiromi, "What happened, after we dropped?"

The young woman leaned back, drying her eyes, "Blisk… he tried to turn on us. He wanted to come see my father. He put a gun to my head but I disarmed him, then Jack… He just…"

"... Is he dead?"

"No, but he probably wishes it." Jack deadpanned, standing and moving over, dropping his voice. "We need to go. He's in custody for having a weapon right now, and with the chaos Talon made we can probably leave before anyone notices."

"We need to get our things, though." Uso said, "Our weapons."

"Fuck them, they're replaceable. Let's go, now." He stuck his hand out, and Uso looked at it before he took it, being pulled to his feet. One of the guards looked over.

"Alright there?"

"Never better."

"If you can wait in the lobby for a statement so we can move the body, we'd appreciate it." One of the men with the guards said, not even looking up. Uso's eyes flicked to the tag on his arm, recognizing it as the planets 'police force', and nodded.

"Sure thing."

The three climbed the ladder out, with some effort as Uso's leg was broken, and walked out onto the lobby floor. No one paid them any attention, and they went straight for the exit. There were guards, but they were facing out, and as such, did not see the faces of those exiting.

The three were quick to hobble their way back into the place that Blisk had parked the ship. Jack went to the door and banged on it, shouting "Corey! COREY! Open the fucking door!" There was silence, then the door's lock clicked and hissed. Jack didn't wait, grabbing it and yanking it open, Uso the first one inside.

Uso wasn't fully surprised when he came face to face with the predator cannon, but he didn't dilly-dally, diving towards the nearest cover and shouting "WEAPONS OUT!" Hiromi was coming through and she slipped at the shout, falling on her ass and scrambling for the same cover.

Jack, however, showed not a single care, "Don't fucking shoot me, Corey!"

"You have unloaded a nearly lethal amount of lead into my pilot. Give me one good reason I should not." Corey's voice was laced with anger but Jack stood his ground. "How did you even manage to leave?"

"I used his keycard to get through security, got out before the guards caught on. He tried to betray us, Corey. He put a gun to Hiromi's head, so I gave him a taste of his own bitch-ass medicine."

"Jack, what the fuck are you doing?!" Uso hissed, but he was ignored by the pilot as Corey shifted his glance over to where he knew Uso and Hiromi were hiding, then back.

"Did he tell you his intentions?"

"He wanted to use her to get to her father, Oscar Kione-Vasello." Jack said, "You and I both know he's got a big bounty on his head for the amount of information that he gave up."

"You yourself have taken part in hostage situations with Kuben. What made a difference here?"

"Because he showed he was an actual monster, something you voluntarily blind yourself too!" Jack shouted. The predator cannon whirred and Corey shot right at the ground in front of Jack. Hiromi screamed in terror but Jack didn't move, even as the rounds ricocheted around the cabin, glaring up at the Legion, "Real nice comeback there, who taught you that? Corey, why are you defending him?"

"Because he is the only pilot I have." Corey said flatly, a silence falling over the room. Slowly, Hiromi pushed Uso's hand away, and stood up from behind cover.

"Corey..." The titan looked over, her words slow, and full of pain, "I thought… I trusted you, Corey. He was going to shoot me. He almost didn't let us leave. You and him, you were both so… welcoming and nice, but now I'm realizing that sometimes monsters have the nicest faces."

Corey jerked slightly, staring at her. Jack had been listening to her, and turned her face back to Corey.

"You don't have to be like him, Corey." Jack said quietly, "You and I both know he goes too far, and that we have lines that we don't like to cross when we work, and he pushed us over them. He had it coming, and I could have killed him, but I didn't because I knew it would hurt people, and that one of them was you."

Corey looked between the pilot, and Hiromi, and sighed, "I suppose you are not wrong, but he is my pilot."

"Just because he's your pilot doesn't mean he always will be." Jack finished, "I'm taking this ship and going to Harmony. You can come with us, or I can dump you out on the tarmac and leave you. What's your choice?"

Corey's optics shuttered before he looked over at Hiromi, and Uso, who had warily stood up. The cannon was still grasped tightly in his hand, him looking between them before he slowly lowered his weapon.

"... I wish to come with you, but he will track us if I follow."

"So? He's gonna be in the hospital for a few weeks. It'll be more than enough time. Besides, with what ship?" Jack said with a gentle snort. Corey did a gesture, much like a nod, and lifted his head, looking at Hiromi again.

"Then I will join you. But when he can move again, I will take back our ship and go get him."

"Fine by me, Corey." Jack said, and Hiromi smiled. Uso let out a breath, shaking his head and staggering to where the tools were to repair himself, muttering 'unbelievable'.

* * *

It took a little longer to get back to Harmony than before, due to the fact they now had to go get fuel and without Blisk, that proved difficult. Jack was still wanted by the IMC, Uso was badly damaged, and Hiromi had no idea how to fuel up a ship to begin with. So, with a lot of help from Corey and finagling with some space refuelers, where they would do the filling, they had enough fuel to return.

Hiromi sat in the pilot seat, watching the planet come back into view. Turning her head, she called back "Uso! We're here!" and listened ast the AI hobbled back to the front of the ship. He had given up and chucked everything from the knee down on his damaged leg, electing to hop.

"Finally."

"Where are we landing?"

"At the house. I can't travel in this condition."

"But, can't people see us coming?"

"No, thankfully. I've taken time to get acquainted with the ship." Uso started to press buttons and flip switches, and she heard the power reroute above them. The ship was far from quiet, and you would tell when something was changing as the air flow circulator would weaken. Slowly, they broke the atmosphere, and slowed down. "Do you recognize the name, uh… Barba? Or the place, um... Jericho?"

"No? Well, Jericho, maybe. Sounds like a town…"

"That's what I thought."

"Why?"

"I dunno, I saw a job about it. Might be a good place to get you some more practice." He chuckled, her rolling her eyes.

"... Uso?"

"Yeah?"

"Who was that guy, back there?"

Uso seemed to pause as he grabbed the steering controls, then quietly said "Talon."

"Talon?"

"I'm surprised you know about Chase, but not Talon. He killed Sola's first titan, took her leg too from what I understand... He was an unholy terror when we first linked, put Sola in a fit of rage and tried to kill her. He's an AI too, but... no remorse, a true killing machine, a war machine in its purest form." Uso said flatly. Hiromi looked over, him staring down out the flight window as they descended.

"Was he human, once before?"

"I don't know, but whatever he was, it was far from human." The farm came into view and Uso set the ship down outside the fences. Looking out the window, she could see her companion bot, the squid, spiral out over the fence and rush off curiously, shaking her head at its naive nature. Uso chuckled, "Reminds me of someone I know."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she asked, him laughing as he got up and started to bounce into the belly of the ship. As they got there, Corey was dropping the rear ramp down. It was lowered enough for Hiromi to see a new stim waiting for them.

"Uso, is that...?" She asked gently, and he nodded. Hiromi was shocked, and looked over as Jack stood up from what he was doing, going rigid. Uso put a hand on her shoulder, "Let's give them a minute, okay?"

Hiromi nodded.

* * *

Jack's heart was pounding in his throat as he watched the old, dusty stim frame approach. The blue optic was staring at him with such intensity that everything else around him felt like it was melting… and as the other got closer, he felt as if he was too.

"BT…?" He said softly, and the stim nodded. That was all he needed, turning and marching the last few steps forward, bringing up his arms and hugging the other tightly. Arms wrapped around him, embracing him and holding him as he felt his eyes start to burn with something fierce.

"I felt you coming." BT said, and Jack closed his eyes. He had felt the link starting to tug a few hours ago, and he had responded, the interactions getting stronger and stronger as the trip progressed. His hands were shaking and he had been having difficulty getting everything ready for landing, and when they had landed, he thought he was going to faint again.

Jack couldn't believe it, after all this time, BT was still alive and okay. It was like a dream, a dream he thought was over when he saw BT's dead stim in the elevator shaft. But even as the horror and dread filled his body with a feverish emotion of unexplainable grief, it had all washed away when he realized that despite all this, the link was still there.

It was all that had kept his sanity together, all these years. That the link was still alive, he had doubted it at times, wondering if maybe this is what a broken link had felt like… but he knew what it felt like to lose BT. And that was not it.

"I missed you, BT."

"I missed you too, Jack." BT said, and after a long hug, gently let go. It felt too short for Jack, but he knew that they had other things to do first. He rubbed his eyes, and looked back at Hiromi and Uso.

It was still hard for him, Hiromi was a teenager when he saw her last, and now she was a young woman. And standing by Uso… His heart hurt. His head hurt too, but he forced a smile. At least soon, they would be going home.

A long night of repairs and upgrades ensued. Everyone, Corey included, had gone into the barn, as BT and Uso needed to be attended to, the latter more so. The stars were twinkling and the moon high in the sky when they finally finished, Jack wiping the grease of his hands.

"I think that's everything."

"Thank god." Uso said, sitting up and checking the new pieces of metal, and the patch jobs on the old ones, "That's a nightmare I never want to relive."

Hiromi giggled, then looked over, "So, there's just a big cellar of bodies down there?"

" _Chassis_. " Uso quickly interrupted, "Yeah, how do you think I stayed fresh all these years?"

"Thank you for saving me, Uso." BT said gently, getting a nod, "But… why didn't you tell me about Sola?"

There was a dead silence, and Uso asked, "I… I beg your pardon?"

"In the RESPAWN program, when I went into the white room… there was a half-glitched copy of Sola. Same face. Same voice, but not her." BT said flatly, "What did you do in there?"

Uso shifted nervously, looking down. The silence that followed was deafening again, before he spoke so softly it was almost hard to hear him.

"A few years ago, I… I got very lonely. I thought I would try to make a program, someone I could talk to, but… no matter how hard I tried I just kept making Sola. I have ALL her memories, I can remember how every piece of her looked, but when I finally gave in, no matter how hard I tried… I couldn't make her."

"You can't make a person, Uso." Jack said, softly, sounding uncomfortable, "What in your mind possessed you to try something like that?"

"I don't know, I just thought-"

"How do you have all her memories?" Corey suddenly interjected, "I thought you said she's not part of the database."

"She's not, but-"

"Then there is no way you would have all her memories." Corey said flatly. BT slowly sat up, staring at Uso as he didn't come up with a response. Jack was watching him too, but Hiromi was looking between them, trying to understand what was going on.

"What did you do, Uso?"

"...the brain is a computer. An organic computer, but it still functions like one. That's how the Stim Backup Program worked. When…" Uso shifted, uncomfortable, but the stares didn't let up, "When they performed an autopsy… Smith removed her brain and scanned all her memories off of it. He gave them to me, maybe in hopes that I could bring her back, but… no matter how hard I tried…"

"Holy fuck, Uso. Do you have any idea what you did?" Jack said, "You and Smith attempted to violate her of the last right she had, the right to die."

"Sola didn't deserve to die like that!" Uso said, an anger in his voice. BT shook his head, and got up, going over to Uso's titan frame.

"Well that would explain this." BT jumped atop the frame, Uso's head snapping up and getting off the table.

"What are you doing, BT?" Uso's voice became aggressive, watching as BT bent down, "NO! Do not open it! BT!"

Uso wasn't quick enough, BT had already reached in and pulled the release lever. The hatch swung open, and inside was a sight that Jack wasn't sure what he was looking at until he realized that the cockpit was no longer a cockpit.

The chair was still there, and sitting in the chair was a set of armour. A horrifying moment of realization came to Jack as he recognized that armour as_ Sola's_ . One of the arms was missing, showing a robotic one in pieces, like it was still being built, and the helm was sitting on the lap of the armour, a half-constructed stim head sticking out of the neck guards. It still had the bug-like, fake eyes...

At the feet of the stim, hundreds of wires were leading auxiliary power to this… container. It was like a glass tube, probably two or three gallons of a clear liquid, something floating in-

...a brain.

Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to tear out his eyes, vomit, run away screaming, or do all three as he dropped the tool in his hand. Hiromi's weak voice of "Is that… what I think it is?" filled the silence. Uso's voice shook as he spoke.

"It's not what you think this is, BT."

"Oh yeah? Because it looks like, to me, you put Sola's fucking BRAIN in a JAR."

"I didn't do it, BT! Smith spent the last five years of his life out here trying to bring her back until the day he died, right here in this fucking barn!"

"But you stood by and let it happen." BT said darkly, jumping down and pointing up, "This. This is FAR from humane. She still could be alive in there, Uso. I would have never known if you hadn't put me into the database and I noticed the power routing in here. You have done worse than that man ever did to her, you stood by and _watched_ as Smith _stripped her of her basic human right because you were **too seLFISH TO LET HER DIE!"**_

"SHE IS DEAD, BT! SHE'S _GONE!"_ Uso shouted, his voice breaking and crackling with a sound he hadn't heard in a long time: The sound of Uso breaking down into a sob. "I told Smith over and over again that she was gone, the link is empty, all that's left are her memories! Her soul, HER, she moved on long ago! She died upstairs in that tower, before any of us could save her. I let this happen because of my guilt, because I didn't feel like I knew what was best for her. I know what I did, and there's nothing I can do to take it back!"

"... Then why didn't you unplug her?" BT's voice was flat, quiet after the few moments of silence he'd given Uso to recollect himself.

"... Because... if there was a slight chance she was still in there… I couldn't… I couldn't bear to risk it." Uso said weakly. BT nodded slowly, then leaned in.

"You are a disgrace, and I'm sorry I ever trusted you with the life of my friends."

The words shook Uso to the core, him looking up at BT in shock. The AI turned his back to him, and started to walk. Jack's face was a mixed expression of shock and disgust as he turned to follow, BT grabbing Hiromi by the wrist and pulling her after.

"C'mon, we're going home."

Hiromi looked back at Uso, her emotions in turmoil. How could he let this happen? She thought he loved her sister... She didn't fight back, unsure how to handle this information, and let BT take her to the house.

Uso stared after them, falling to his knees. He felt… numb. Like he did after the death of Sola had set in, the acceptance that she was finally dead. Looking down at his hands, he noticed the tool Jack had dropped, it was a type of long screwdriver, the metal part easily five inches long.

Picking it up, Uso stared at it. He thought about the days and the hours he had watched Smith try to bring her back, about how hopeless he felt when Smith died. He remembered shutting the hatch of his titan frame nine years ago, and never opening it again as he realized this was wrong. He thought about what BT had said.

Bringing the screwdriver up, he put it against the glass of his optic. His shoulders heaved, his systems in fit as his voice box let out a garbled noise of a sob. He was a disgrace. He was selfish. He was the worst thing that had ever happened to Sola, because he had hurt her without even thinking about it. He had spent every waking hour of the time she was with him making sure he never, ever took a choice away from her… but couldn't respect the same boundaries when she was gone.

He was not worthy of her.

Making a strained noise of pain, he pushed the tip of the screwdriver, hearing the glass start to crack. _Do it._ His systems strained, he fought himself, _DO IT YOU PIECE OF SHIT! **DO IT!**_

_**...Uso… **_

Uso screamed in rage, pulling his arm back and threw the screwdriver. It stuck into the metal beside the disassembled head of Sola's stim frame as he broke down, putting his head to the dirt and sobbing tearless sobs. It was in that moment that Uso fell to the lowest low; to a point where he was sure he would never be able to climb out of again.

"I'm so sorry, Sola!" He whispered into the dirt, grasping at the ground, "I'm sorry! _I'm sorry! **I'm sorry…"**_

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

_**This chapter is dedicated to InfiniumKnight - Godspeed, Soldier.**_

* * *

It had been three months since Hiromi had seen Uso.

BT and Jack were absolutely against her pursuing her mission, and had dragged her back home the next morning. She had a tearful goodbye with Corey once he'd brought them back to the planet where the survivors had moved to (after him swearing up and down that Blisk would never hear a beep about it), and to add insult to injury, received the scolding of her life upon arriving home three weeks later. It had been short lived, however, thanks to Oscar and Amy's relief in seeing her alive.

Now, she sat on a porch, overlooking the planet she called home. Hiromi still had nightmares about what she saw back in Uso's barn. Of the dismembered robot, and her sister's brain floating in a tube. The three had agreed to never share what they saw, but she felt as if keeping quiet was going to drive her insane. Hiromi felt like the Uso she had heard about and grew to know for three years compared to the the Uso that had let someone possibly torture her sister, were two entirely different people, and it bothered her to every extent...

"Hey, earth to Hiromi, hell-ooooo?" Hiromi snapped out of her thoughts, looking over at her friend, who sat cross-legged next to her. She was holding one of the squid-scouts's arms in her lap, trying to fix the rain-damaged sensors. Her hair was frizzing despite it being back in a ponytail, staring.

"Oh, sorry Linnie…" Hiromi said, and looked back down at what she was doing.

"Ya alright? You've been a space case lately."

"Yeah, I'm alright."

Linnie was Hiromi's closest friend, and because of that, NOT telling her about what she saw was even harder for her. She had told her about Uso, about Talon and about Blisk and Corey, even when she knew she wasn't supposed to, but that was because she knew Linnie could keep a secret.

But about a fucking _ brain in a jar? _

"You thinking about that Legion again?" Hiromi turned a bright red, glaring as Linnie snickered, her eyebrows waggling. "Whhhaaattt?"

"I am not, thank you! I'm sure he's off with his pilot again."

"Pfft, he'd ditch him in a heartbeat if ya asked."

"Protocols 2 and 3 says otherwise."

"They're more like _ guidelines _ than actual rules ya know."

Hiromi made a brief, sad laugh and looked back down at what she was doing. The radio started to gently buzz and Linnie made an 'ooo!' sound, reaching up onto the railing to grab it and plop it down between them to listen.

"** _Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is your host Luis Shanes here reporting to you live from the Far Side of the Universe! I hope you have been enjoying the wonderful selection of music, straight from our newest undiscovered talent…"_ **

Hiromi wasn't listening anymore, looking down at the piece of machinery in her hands, tracing a line. For the past three months, she had begun to internally struggle with the idea of revenge for her sister's death. It felt as, if she went after Chase, and did wind up killing him, was she really doing anything?

Sure, Chase had killed her sister but after what she saw in the barn, would her sister's soul be truly honored?

Hiromi remembered the fights that Jack and BT had on the ride home when they thought she was asleep, about if they should go back. They were quiet but emotionally charged, both seemed split on the idea of 'putting her to rest' or 'risking her still being alive in there'. She remembered she had heard Jack sobbing once during the fight, about how he 'couldn't believe they had done that to her'.

_ "Jack… What was my sister to you?" Hiromi had asked when they were still trapped in the belly of the ship. _

_ "Sola, she… she was one of my best friends. The two of us were there for each other's lowest lows. We didn't necessarily pull each other out of the pits, but we supported each other along the way." Jack said, paying attention to what he was cooking. "We had a lot in common, had each other's back more than anyone else I can think of." _

_ "Did you love her?" _

_ "Oh yeah, I loved her, but… not like people think when you say 'love'." _

_ "Kindred spirits," BT had added, "with benefits." _

_ "Oh my god, really?! Did it happen or NOT, BT?!" Jack had groaned, but whatever he was talking about Hiromi didn't understand. _

_ "Sola was very dedicated to her friends." BT continued, "There was a time when the two of us got stranded, and her biggest concern was getting me back to the Militia, and not about her own injuries." _

_ "She put others first. Always." _

Hiromi blinked back to the real world, a sadness in her heart. Not for the first time, she wished with all her might that she could do something to honor her. But when the whisper had gone out with the exhale from her lungs, the little voice came back.

_ Are you doing this for her, or for you? _

** _"-have some news, which will soon be BIG news if something comes out of it. There have been talks of a peace treaty, possibly an End of War treaty being signed. We have word of an IMC representative, Mr. Jennings, and a Militia Republic ambassador, Mr. S Barba, who are going to MEET on the planet Jericho."_ **

Hiromi whipped her head over, drawn out of her musings, "Turn that up!" Her voice was so sudden that the other girl jumped, but quickly did so.

** _"Now, I don't have a lot of faith in this. The last two attempts, both of which have been in the span of five years have gone completely sour. But to me, I think both sides are wearing a little thin on the ability to keep up with the war. I mean, c'mon, it's just a few planets!"_ **

"Just a few planets, huh?" A new voice caused the girls to look up, spotting Barker in the doorway to the house, "Turn that off, Linnie. I don't want to hear opinions of a war that folks like him never lifted a finger to help with."

Linnie did as she was asked, but Hiromi's brain was spinning. She knew at least one of those names, or the name of that place... Uso had asked her about them! But why? What did he know that she didn't?

"Do you think it could actually happen?" Linnie asked as Barker rolled his wheelchair over to his spot on the patio, near them but by a porch table, setting his coffee on it after locking his wheelchair in place.

"I think it could, and while the idea of the war being over is a great aspect… It's the disrespect of those we lost and what we lost in the war that drives me crazy. If they didn't participate in the war, didn't have family who did, or didn't have a whole home that was affected; the war just seems like some sort of joke to them. Something to report on another afternoon radio station about."

"Does that mean we could go back to Harmony?" Linnie asked, only to be greeted with a silence, and a gentle head shake.

"No, not this soon. I think when your grandkids' grandkids are about you girls' ages, the soil will be safe enough to till for food." he hummed, "What are you two up to?"

"Fixing Squid Kid." Linnie smiled. Hiromi looked down at her work, but found she couldn't focus. Why had Uso asked her about those names?!

"I gotta go talk to somebody real quick." She said, standing up. Barker glanced over.

"Alright kid. Think you'll be back?"

"Yeah, I gotta get the drone fixed. I just need to ask… Jack and BT somethin'." She muttered. Linnie glanced between her father and Hiromi.

"I mean, I've got nothing better to do all day, mind if I tag along for the ride? Could use the fresh air."

"And leave your pops?" Barker joked, "I'll just sit out here and watch my coffee, then."

Linnie rolled her eyes, going and giving him a soft peck on the cheek, "I'll be back quick, I promise. Maybe I'll cook dinner."

Barker laughed, "Oh? Alright, but no more lasagna." Hiromi smiled at them, then turned and started down the path, waiting up a little for Linnie. Once they were out of the house, Linnie looked at Hiromi skeptically.

"Alright, I know ya well enough to know something's buggin' ya, just spit it out." Linnie gave her a concerned yet serious look, and Hiromi glanced over.

"That radio podcast. When I talked to Uso last, he said one of those names. Barba. And the place, Jericho. I think something's gonna happen." Hiromi said seriously, "I'm going to go tell Jack."

"Ha ha… oh you, you're serious. Um, you sure that's a good idea? I mean wouldn't it just start an argument or a fight?"

Hiromi stopped. She hadn't thought about that. But something was driving her, telling her. She needed to go, she needed to do something about this,_ but what? _

"I can't ask Uso to help, I have to talk to them."

They soon came to the two's house, Hiromi knocking on the door. It took a moment but it was BT who opened. He had been modified since their return, a new paint job and some of his personal stuff back on his body. He looked in surprise at the two girls.

"Hello Hiromi, hello Linnie. How can I help you?"

"Can I talk to you two?"

"Sure. Come in."

Linnie whistled upon her entry, "Love the color BT, looks sweet!"

BT brightened at her response, the dark royal purple a wonderful accent to his bright baby blue optic, "Thank you, I thought I'd try a new color."

The house was simple. It was a gently used dwelling, as over the last ten year the amount of wear and tear was very little. It was as if it was brand new in some places... Jack was at a table, sketching out something, but turned and leaned back to look at the door as the girls came in.

"Hello girls!" He said cheerily.

"Hiya!" Linnie said with a grin, but Hiromi only nodded. Jack noticed, and his smile faltered a moment.

"What's… going on?"

"I think something is going to happen."

BT and Jack looked at each other for a moment, then looked back, "Like… what?"

"I heard on the radio that the IMC and the Militia Republic are going to meet up at a place called Jericho, sign a War Peace Treaty. When we were coming back, Uso mentioned something about a place called Jericho and a very specific name, Barba. That was the name of the Militia Representative. I think something is going to happen at the signing." Hiromi was starting to sound less and less like herself as she spoke and more like a calm, yet crazed, fanatic. Jack and BT looked at each other.

"You shouldn't have listened to anything he said, Hiromi." Jack said flatly.

"He probably got wind of the signing when it was still in the works. It's nothing to worry about." BT said gently, "Hiromi, have you been okay? Amy mentioned you haven't been sleeping very much."

Hiromi stared at them, and tensed her fists. What did they expect, how could she sleep, knowing what this world had done to her sister?

"I mean we have had a fair amount of racket lately at our end; even I haven't slept well." Linnie said offhandedly, giving her friend a confident glance of 'I gotcha'. Hiromi glanced back, and a flood of relief filled her. If anyone was going to back her up, it was going to be Linnie.

"Racket?" BT asked curiously, "Everything okay over there?"

"Is it Barker snoring?" Jack's jab was friendly at Linnie, and that irked Hiromi even more. Why was he being so damn dismissive with _ her?! _

"We've only had one or two nights _ without _ raccoons. Think we finally got 'em just yesterday." It wasn't untrue, they had been around, but they'd been dealt with a month ago. "If something were to happen though, I mean assassination attempts aren't unheard of." Linnie got a blank stare from the men, including one of shock from Hiromi before she shrugged, "Just sayin'."

"Girls, nothing is going to happen. It's fine. Go home now, okay?" BT said gently, but Hiromi felt her temper rise.

"What happened to you? What happened to the stories I heard of you two riding into battle, defending right from wrong at the slightest chance of something amiss?" She leveled a stare at Jack, "Or are those just stories, like Uso?"

BT's optic darkened, "... I suggest you girls go home now. We have some business we have to attend to soon, and I don't want to cut it short having to stop in at both your parents' houses."

Hiromi didn't say anything, not necessarily afraid since she _was_ an adult but not wanting to have a talk about 'respecting her elders'. Linnie grimaced, knowing a boundary had been crossed, and she elbowed Hiromi's arm slightly, turning to leave. The girls didn't linger, leaving, but Hiromi made a note to shut their door a little harder than normal. Linnie glanced over as they walked down the path, noticing her sulking friend.

"The tension in there was thicker than MOB's hydraulic fluid. What happened last time you talked to them?"

"They just keep blowing me off. They don't want me to leave this place. Don't get me wrong, home is awesome, but, I just… I can't just live and die in the same place! Ugh, I don't know! I think this has to do with that organization, CHAOS."

"The one that had your sister killed?"

"Yeah, them… Linnie… do you have a long range communication device?"

"You mean a phone?" Linnie lifted a brow. Hiromi looked at her, "Jesus, take a joke. Yeah, at the house. Ya can use it as long as you help me make dinner," She thought hard for a moment. "And tell me what the fuck happened between you and Uso."

"I'll tell you, I promise, but I just… I can't right now, okay?"

She let out a sigh of defeat, "Okay."

* * *

It was late in the night. Dinner had been cooked successfully, eaten, and Barker had gone to bed. The girls were sitting in Linnie's room, the communicator online. They were staring at it as it rang quietly, before the ringing stopped and a voice answered.

"Who is this?"

"It's Hiromi."

"Good evening, Miss Hiromi." The voice went from cold, and guarded to warm and welcoming in a moment. Linnie looked at Hiromi knowingly, not missing the other blush, "It has been some time since we have spoken."

"It has! I um… I need to ask you a favor."

"I will see what I can do, depending on the favor."

"I need you to take me back to Uso."

There was silence, before "I'm sorry, but I'd prefer not to do that."

"What? Why?"

"After seeing what I saw, I do not believe he is a healthy influence on you."

"I'm not a _ child _, Corey. Don't you dare treat me like they do," Hiromi said grouchily.

"He put your sister's brain in a jar. I am not worried about what they say, I am worried about what he will do."

"I'm sorry, what did he just say?" Linnie asked, her voice higher than normal from confusion.

"Who is that?" Corey asked, curiously.

"That's my friend, Linnie. She's letting me borrow her long range communicator."

"I'm sorry, her what?"

"... her phone…" Hiromi said quietly.

"Well, thank you, Linnie. I would appreciate it if you could please let your friend know her idea is terrible."

"Well considering the treatment she just got from Jack, I'd say it's a pretty good idea. Did you say brain?"

"Yes, brain."

"Brain...in a jar...brain...in... okay, I've got a lot of questions."

"Corey, look, something is going to happen. I don't know what but I think that CHAOS is going to make a move on the peace treaty meeting on Jericho."

"And why do you think this?"

"Because Uso asked me about it, and he never asks questions that are so specific and random like that." Hiromi explained. There was a silence that followed.

"...very well. I will take you but it will take me some time to get back to you. Blisk has recovered mostly but not entirely. We will be in touch." The line went dead, the girls staring at it.

"Damn, didn't even say goodnight. Cold."

"Linnie, I swear to god-"

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

Jericho was a well developed planet; an oasis to most, a planet in the middle of nowhere. Most of the year, it was a balmy seventy to eighty degrees with a few weeks of scorching temperatures or nippy frosts, and despite the constant fifty to eighty percent humidity, many found it a sacrifice they were willing to make. It was safe from the fighting over land, a happy neutral in the middle of nowhere.

Chase didn't see the appeal.

The agent gently put his tablet away and donned his sunglasses, tired from the long journey. He had seen the planet in the window of his quarters, but unlike many of the cabin-fevered customers, he had waited to get ready to depart.

Despite being given his orders months ago, it had taken time for everything to fall into place. Being a lone sniper, he had to be involved in every aspect of the planning. It was something he hadn't been able to do for a long time, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy it.

Chase listened for the chatter to get quieter before he sat out of bed and started to gather his belongings. His weapons, his gear, and his bullets -all of which he had carefully serviced and fine-tuned- were hidden away under a layer of scan-proof material and some clothes he'd probably never use in this whole endeavor. Two suitcases, that was it.

Tucking his hair through the back of his ball-cap, he opened the door and stepped out of the room, making his way down the halls. He didn't seem like it, but he was being very careful of the people around him, watching them under the sunglasses despite keeping to himself, remaining low profile.

As he exited the ship, he was greeted with a surprise. Crouched along the edge of the path in a line were… old titan frames. To Chase's shock, they were online, seeming to be keeping an eye on those exiting the ship. Quietly, he cursed and looked down slightly, unsure if they had facial recognition.

The path was still crowded, to his annoyance, as greeters were handing out flowers and papers. One approached him but a steely gaze was quick to deflect them, not in the mood to be shaken down by the locals.

"Mama, what's this one?" The excited voice of a child reached his ears from the family nearby, and a gentle laugh responded to the voice.

"That's a Northstar, say 'hello Northstar'."

"Hello, Northstar!"

"_ Greetings, visitor." _ The voice that came to Chase's ears rendered him to a dead stop, and he jerked his head back to look in shock. Behind him, to the side of the path, the woman was holding a child on her hip, who was reaching up towards the titan.

The Northstar was a beautiful emerald color, with flora painted all over the front of it. He could see it was dented and damaged, like once upon a time, it had seen the wars of long before. Now, it was nothing more than a sentry, whatever life it had left was being used to watch the coming and goings of people around them.

_ It's time to go, Pilot Colton… _

Chase looked forward and started to walk, blinking hard to clear out his vision. It was a fifteen-minute walk to his hotel, where he checked in under his alias and went right up. Normally, he would start his prepping right away, but instead, he tossed his bags on the bed and went right to the bathroom.

He hardly made it before he started to retch up the contents of the day's meal. It was a horrendous sound in his own ears, the smell and feeling causing him to retch more. He struggled to breath between the waves of nausea and the results of the waves, his hand floundering around until he found the handle to flush the contents away.

Chase was sure he was done, but his hands were shaking. Standing weakly, he went to the sink and turned it on, sticking his head in and filling his mouth with water to rinse it out. When he was sure the taste was gone, he weakly reached into his inner jacket pocket and removed a bottle, struggling to shake out a few pills and put them in his mouth. Down he went for more water, and down the pills fell into his stomach.

The effect would be stronger on an empty stomach, and he felt like that's what he needed right now. Stripping off his clothes and turning on the shower, he stepped in and sat on the floor. The bathroom was still in total darkness as he tried to settle down. Closing his eyes, he set his head on his knees and breathed in the moisture.

His arm throbbed.

_ "Pilot Colton, I can numb the pain. Please, let me assist you." _

_ Chase shook his head no, tears dripping onto the inside of the helmet as he clutched his arm. It had snapped when he tried to slow his fall, and the pain of such was worse than the way his ankles and legs screamed from the impact. They would have gotten him if Nini hadn't come around the corner and scooped him up so fast, shoving him into the cockpit and rushing into the unguarded forest of the gate tower. _

_ It had been three hours since he had run for his life, and now they were hiding in the middle of a ravine. Nini had taken a break to try and give her pilot some relief, but he was resisting. _

_ "Pilot-" _

_ "I don't need help! We need to get to the evacuation point, understand?" Colton snapped, and Nini fell quiet. After a moment, the cockpit closed again, and he gnawed on his bottom lip. _

_ "Understood, Pilot. Plotting path to coordinates." _

_ Nini was not like the other titans that the militia had. She wasn't old and experienced like BT. She wasn't advanced like USO. She wasn't a basic, personality-lacking rack titan or respawnable like the dumb auto-titans... She was a glitch. _

_ A glitch, caused by CHAOS. Enough that even the most experienced of Titan Techs wouldn't notice, but enough that loyalty wouldn't follow the cause, but the pilot itself. A magnification of Protocol Three, some might say, but Chase saw it as making a titan nothing more than a talking dog. _

_ Chase was sweating from the pain. It was almost debilitating, every jostle from the titan's step was like torture. Sometimes he cried out and Nini would pause, before slowly moving on. He wasn't worried about the time constraint, the ride would wait for him. _

_ It was what was possibly following that worried him. _

_ They were fifteen minutes from the rendezvous point at their current pace when there was a loud bang as a shot ricocheted off the titan's hull. Chase jerked in his spot, and Nini took off in a sprint. _

_ "I apologize, pilot, but it seems they have caught up." Nini said as he tied the strap of his makeshift bandage tighter to keep from shaking. _

_ "Just run, Nini!" He ordered, putting his helmet back on and looking back. He could see at least three titans behind them, two of which definitely looked like Vanguards. "Fuck!" _

_ Nini fired her thrusters to clear a cliff before them, but another bang sounded and his HUD flashed a warning. The shot had taken her whole left arm off, her landing with a stagger from the system overload before she quickly started off again. _

_ The bitter irony, he thought, as he clutched his broken left arm then reached for his comm. _

_ "This is Agent Jasper, requesting immediate evac! Heavy pursuit!" _

_ "Copy Agent Jasper, laying down the inferno." _

_ He saw lines of white come from the sky, Nini clearing the splash zone as the missiles hit and light caused Nini's chassis to throw a long shadow. Chase didn't bother looking back, he knew it would only hold the militia back for so long. Before them, he saw a ship slowly lowering down into the forest. _

_ Nini pushed on, and soon, there was a clearing that Chase spotted the ship in... It was tiny. There was no way he could fit a titan on that, he realized in horror. Nini must have realized it too, and slowed before coming to a stop. _

_ Opening the cockpit, Chase stepped onto her hand and was lowered to the ground. He stepped down and turned as the cockpit closed, "Come down here, Nini, I need to remove your optic." _

_ Nini did not move. Instead, she looked back. Chase furrowed his brow. _

_ "The aerial assault will not hold them back for long, they will be here before you can safely depart." _

_ "The ship can handle that. Get down here, now." _

_ "The ship can only fire attacks from the air, otherwise it will disrupt the take-off procedures. They will shoot the ship down, and you will die." Nini looked back, and to Chase's horror, started to stand up. _

_ "What are you doing?!" _

_ "Giving you some time, pilot. It has been a good run." _

_ "Wh- Nini! Get the fuck down here and give me your optic, now! That's a fucking order!" Chase's voice was firm, but he was trying hard not to let it shake. But Nini didn't listen, using her one arm to grab her railgun and ready it to the best of her ability. Her thrusters started to heat up, and he shouted again, "NINI!" _

_ "Take care of yourself, Pilot. I have done the best I can, but the rest is up to you." _

_ Whatever Chase said was drowned out as the Northstar took off, him stepping forward but a hand found his shoulder. His heart jumped to his throat as he attacked with a swing of his working arm, but it was easily deflected, and he greeted the faceplates of Agent White. _

_ "We need to go, Jasper." It wasn't a request. Chase only stood there stupidifed before he nodded, and started back towards the ship with White. _

_ He was strapped in when he heard the sounds of the railgun, a signature noise even through the thickness of the ship's hull. Looking out the window, he could see the firefight below, the flames of battle casting an eerie, ghostly glow on Nini's white frame as she flew through the sky. _

_ The battle waged on though he couldn't see her anymore, but as they were about to jump he felt… it. A searing pain that ripped through his skull. His back arched in shock, his voice catching in his throat, and it was in that moment… he realized she was gone. _

_ ...Nini... _

** _It's time to go, Pilot Colton._ **

Chase jerked awake in the shower with a gasp, effectively inhaling water and coughing as a result. He couldn't tell if it was water or tears on his cheeks, but he didn't care. Nini was the only loss he could mourn, because in the end, she had always been there for him.

...

He wished he'd cherished her more.

* * *

Sneaking out had actually been easier than Linnie had expected.

Barker had been easy to get past, he slept like a literal stone. Hiromi had stayed over at their house again when they got the notice Corey was within 24 hours away. They had judged he would arrive at night, and they were right… but it had been pretty far off, calling for a hike through the jungle that was still uninhabited.

Meaning, Linnie was getting chewed up by bushes and trees.

"This fucking hurts," She whispered, for no apparent reason, they were alone after all. Hiromi glanced back at her, giving her a grimace of concurrence, "Why did your boyfriend have to stop so far out?"

"He's not my- whatever, he's not that far away. He's probably just-" The two stopped as they heard a branch break far to their left. Slowly, Linnie turned her gaze to the forest and squinted into the darkness.

"What the hell was that?" Linnie's voice barely squeaked out, Hiromi clapping her hand over her friend's mouth, her other hand posed with an index finger over her pursed lips. There was a dead silence that followed and a cold sweat across Linnie's skin.

"I think we can go." Hiromi said after a minute, then removed her hand, Linnie releasing the air she was holding.

"I bet it was a coon, this shitty moth-"

Something popped out of the bushes by them, her and Hiromi screaming in horror and fright. Linnie turned and smacked right into the branch of a tree when she tried to run for it, her ass meeting the ground. There was a struggle and suddenly Hiromi was on her ass too, grunting in shock.

Linnie probably would have clawed her way to her feet and booked it up the nearest tree if she hadn't heard the deep laughter that followed, and Hiromi cursed angrily and colorfully.

"Corey!"

"You ladies were hard to find, thank goodness I had infrared." To Linnie's surprise, it was a spectre that her eyes found, who stepped over them and offered hands. Hiromi seemed surprised as well, gasping.

"You got a new frame?"

"It took some trial and error but three months of down time have brought excellent results." Corey's lights flickered as he spoke, and Linnie found herself immediately wanting to disassemble this metal man. However, she did not ignore his outstretched hand and took it grouchily, the two girls pulled effortlessly to their feet. "Your chariot awaits, ladies."

"Yeah yeah. This is my good head, man." Linnie grunted, rubbing her neck in pain from the whiplash, a red mark across her forehead. Corey tipped his head slightly.

"You can replace your head?"

"Wha- It's a figure of speech!" Linnie groaned, and Hiromi giggled slightly, The titan took them through the forest, and to a small clearing. Linnie would see a ship older than she was parked in the field they had wandered out into. "That… flies, right?"

"Of course, I have been its passenger the last thirty years."

"_ Thirty years?! _ Do they still even patch updates for these old things?"

"Mmm, I think they stopped five years ago. Or maybe that was fifteen?"

"Fuuuuck." Linnie whined, her face a grimace of second-guessing all her choices that had led up to this moment.

"I flew back from Harmony on this, we'll be okay." Hiromi assured, but Linnie wasn't sold. Corey only chuckled as he dropped the ramp. Once she stepped inside, her eyes would be greeted with the very empty cargo hold, and the frame of the giant titan inside.

Damn, that was an _ old _ Legion.

"Don't touch it." Hiromi said sternly, and Linnie looked at her as if she had just insulted her entire lineage.

"What do you take me as, a mechanic's apprentice?"

"I take you as you are, a tinkering inventor who cannot help but destroy and recreate everything she lays her hands on."

"I don't destroy! I _disassemble_, there's a difference..._tinkering my a-"_

"Your girlfriend is very spirited."

Hiromi's face flashed a shade of deeply horrified and embarrassed red and she yelled angrily at Corey, "I used the term girl FRIEND once and you taunt me. A. GIRL. FRIEND. Not girlfriend!"

"Whatever you say."

Hiromi rolled her eyes, Linnie only staring at her uneasily, "I'm sorry about him."

It only took a second to recover before Linnie grinned, "It's fine, boyfriends are like that."

Hiromi's head probably would have exploded if any more blood rushed to it, Corey whipping his head back to stare at Linnie dead in the eye.

"We are, aren't we?"

"Stop it, both of you!" Hiromi's voice came out like a whimper, despite the angry tone lingering in the background. Linnie burst into laughter, Corey making a gentle chuckle and patting Hiromi's back.

"I'm going to like you, Linnie."

"You're not so bad yourself, Corey."

* * *

As the ship departed, the branches of the tree's grove where the girls had come from moved aside. Two blue lights moved out into the field, staring at the departing vessel before the lights turned to each other.

"I guess we're going after them, BT?"

"It appears so, Jack." He turned, looking at the old helmet Jack wore, it's blue lights shining like his own optic, "Should we tell Barker?"

"... Depends, how badly do you think he's going to freak out when he hears Linnie just followed Hiromi to go kill a mass murderer?"

"You have an excellent point, Pilot."

* * *

_**Join my Discord! /YUeJ3at**_


	10. Chapter 10

Hiromi felt like the trip back to Harmony was shorter than any trip she'd taken before, and it didn't help that Corey and Linnie were teaming up to tease the absolute shit out of her. It should have made it seem longer, but thankfully, it hadn't. They got to the area outside of the shield and touched down slowly, the ship hiding in the grove of trees about a mile off. Corey got out first, of course, with the two girls following after.

"So… where are we going?" Linnie asked, looking incredulously at the grove.

"Over here." Hiromi waved, moving along until they found a stream. It was a very quiet flow of water, bubbling softly. Linnie was confused as she noticed some of the water actually floating upwards. She had heard about some of Harmony's odd properties, but had never seen them in action.

It felt as if they had walked through a foggy room and then before them, to the distance, were the solar panels. They were absolutely massive, and blooming all around the base of the support beams, and their feet, were the beautiful golden flowers.

"Wow…" Linnie said in amazement. Corey stooped down, gently touching one.

"Black-Eyed Susans. I did not know they grew here."

"I think they're an invasive species, but yeah, they grow here in the doz-" Hiromi stopped when Corey stood up and turned to her, tucking a plucked flower in her hair above her ear.

"They are very pretty."

Normally, Hiromi would have blushed but instead she softly chided, "Please, don't pluck them. Uso might get mad."

"I can take the heat."

"It's one in thousands." Linnie scoffed, "Is he really gonna complain over a single flower being plucked?"

Hiromi shrugged gently, then started to pick her way through the field. The sun was warm on their backs, heat increasing when they passed before the panels. The barn and the house slowly got bigger and bigger, but on the way Hiromi stopped, and looked over. Confused, the other two looked as well.

She was staring at the engraved metal headstone for Sola on the ground, seeming to be thinking, then turned and kept walking.

"Where do you think he'd be?" Linnie questioned.

"Let's check the house." Hiromi said, taking them towards the building. The front door was wide open, and as they looked around, it seemed as if it had been abandoned. Maybe not totally, but it was dusty, and things didn't seem to be in use. As always, the room Uso used was locked, and a few knocks determined that more than likely, he wasn't in there.

"More than likely, he is still in the barn." Corey stated, and Hiromi swallowed. The last thing she wanted to do was be in the barn with… that… _ brain, _ but she needed Uso's help.

"I guess."

"Hiromi, if you are not comfortable going in there, then maybe it is best if we do this on our own."

"I know, but nobody knows more about CHAOS than he does. He's a freaking data miner, he's going to know more about what the hell is going on than any of us."

Corey nodded, and Hiromi exited the house. The other two followed, and after politely shutting the door crossed over to the barn.

"I am sensing high energy output compared to the last time we were here."

"Is that good?" Linnie asked nervously, them coming around the side to see the barn door closed.

"I hope so." Hiromi murmured, grabbing the door and with a little help from Corey, slowly slid it open. Linnie was the first to peek inside, her eyes growing wide.

"That Vanguard class looks _ mint _! How old is it?"

Hiromi looked in as well, gasping a little in shock. Seeming to be on standby was Uso's Vanguard frame, up and running as it held it's weapon pointed low. It's pink optic swiveled to look at them, but nothing was said.

"It's from before the bombs, so about… I don't know? Twenty two, twenty three years old? Maybe older but not as old as BT." Hiromi mused.

"It does not appear to have seen many battles." Corey commented.

"Eh, neither does MOB but he's gotten a lot of repairs… But this, you can tell nothing's been replaced! The scratches are only in the seams, the paint fade is even all across, and the metal quality is identical-"

"If I hadn't sensed your organic signature, I would have assumed you were a talking MRVN." Uso's deep voice echoed from the back of the barn, Linnie jumping slightly in her spot, "Not many humans can pick that out from a few moments of looking."

"Yeah, well, I've got good eyes." Linnie stated firmly as she pushed her glasses up her nose. Uso's soft chuckle came from the back, the barn lights turning on after a minute. He was sitting on a workbench table, next to something covered with a blanket.

Hiromi's stomach twisted, able to guess what it was by the way the blanket draped over it, and the amount of cables that ran to it from the power generator under the barn.

Uso turned his head at the other two, a horrid creaking noise coming from the joint in his neck, making Linnie cringe. He seemed to pause at the sight of Hiromi again, and she couldn't hardly guess what he was thinking, considering all she was met with was his pink optic.

"I suppose you heard the broadcast." His voice lacked basic emotion, like he was a first-level AI.

"You heard it?"

"I did. I checked the databases after the radio announcement to confirm such an event with the update my systems received while I was on Blisk's ship. I have also spent the last several weeks trying to decrypt the receipt."

"And?"

"It seems it is a death receipt. They are going to have them murdered by none other than Agent Jasper."

Hiromi's blood suddenly ran cold, followed by a boiling wave of anger. Of all the people, they were going to send _ Jasper _. However, this seemed like a perfect opportunity. Instead of having to go the long way of tracking the man down, they could have the chance to take him out before he hurt anyone else.

"We have to stop him."

"Is that your intent?" Uso asked flatly, her looking up at him, "Because I am telling you, you are still not fit to go after him."

"Then come help me, Uso!" Hiromi said, stepping forward to stand by the leg of his Vanguard frame, the optic focusing on her all the while, "Don't you think you ought to do something _ good _ for Sola for once?"

There was a stunning silence, then Uso chuckled, moving. There was so much noise now, creaking, scraping, and she wondered how long he'd been sitting there on that table. Hiromi noticed Linnie twitch out of the corner of her eye, but decided to let it be for now.

"I'll help you, but you have to do something for me."

"...I'm listening."

"One. I can't leave this alone. I've been constantly monitoring… it, I suppose, for activity. Signs of life. The test it's running requires forty five days, and I have eighteen days left." Uso explained, turning and putting his hand on top of the covered object, "It's a very meticulous test, one that requires constant adjustments and surveillance at even the slight-"

"I'll do it." Linnie interrupted, not waiting for him to finish. Uso turned his head.

"... Do you have any sort of qualifications?" His voice seemed judgemental. Hiromi braced herself, knowing Uso was about to get both barrels from Linnie for a question like that.

"Well, you _ are _ observing what I'm gonna guess is a brain in a closed system that's been fed the required flow of oxygen and such. And the test, I'm betting, is on activity in neural pathways so as long as you've got the supplies and there isn't an EMP it seems pretty self sufficient. Are the adjustments supply-flow based or brain activity based? And, to be clear," Linnie looked him dead in the optic, "No one this side of the frontier is qualified to the extent I think you're looking for."

Uso stared back, and chuckled, "You're Barker and Briggs' little girl, aren't you? I'd recognize a tone like that anywhere."

"And I'd recognize an ungreased bearing like yourself a mile away just by the smell. When was the last time you had your hydraulics flushed and bearings regreased, on both chassis?" She said, looking up at the titan. Surprisingly, it shied away. Hiromi had to bring her hand up not to giggle.

"The titan chassis is regularly done. I don't have a way to flush my own fluids without risking being unable to move fast enough to close a drain port and refill, and grease? Hm. Probably a while." Uso mused.

"Then before you go anywhere, you're gonna need that done." Linnie said, already rolling up her sleeves. Uso stared at her, then turned her head back to Hiromi.

"There is another thing."

"Is there?"

"I need you to get an implant."

Hiromi stared in stupor, then furrowed her brows, "Why do you care?"

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let you die to Jasper… and be lost forever."

"I'm not Sola."

"I know." Uso said, "And that's why I want to make sure."

"...Fine. We'll get it on the way there."

"I would rather we do it as soon as possible." Uso said, "I have downloaded med-"

"NO, No way. Nu-uh. We'll go see a doctor. I'm not letting you get anywhere NEAR my brain with a knife." Hiromi said angrily, and Uso respectfully stood down.

"How long do you need to prepare?"

"I don't know, we need to make sure Linnie has food and supplies."

"Well, there is still food storage in the house. It should last her six months."

"Is there sweets?" Linnie's question drew Uso's attention, able to see the animalistic glint in her eye at the idea of _ sugar. _

"...Possibly. We'll have to check. It is hidden in the house, I'd have to look."

"Alright, now how rusty are you?"

Uso fell quiet before he unzipped his jacket and took it, as well as his scarf, off. Hiromi now realized she'd never really seen him without some sort of human clothes. He was even wearing a sort of sportswear pants that were tight around his waist and calves. Was he self conscious about his body?

His body plating was rusted all over, paint having flaked off long ago and the edges crumbling. There were several holes from where he'd been shot in raids, showing his wiring underneath. Linnie grimaced.

"You're gonna need parts."

"I'd like to replace as little as possible… This is still my original body, it's… it would be strange to be heavily modified."

"Uso, that plating will be paper thin if it isn't already. And it won't be major changes, just slightly different... that is if we can find replacements at all. What about the pants, you rusted under there?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yeah it does, what if your hip joints are rusted out?"

"I can handle it on my own, thank you." He snapped, aggressive suddenly.

"Relax Uso! It's not like you have a dick under there!" Corey scoffed, Uso staring at him for a second, long enough to make Hiromi worry that Corey might have hit the nail on the head.

"Wouldn't be the first time a stim had one." Linnie said off-handedly, and Uso was quick to retort.

"_ I just like my boundaries, _ thank you very much!"

"Fine, fine, the pants stay on. Your problem." Linnie said, "Now where's the damn servicing equipment?"

* * *

Barba was looking over the agreement papers for the millionth time, sipping some coffee from a very old, chipped cup. He'd read enough of these edits to know IMC or Militia lawyers could have slipped anything in there... He and Jennings, as well as a small team of a dozen lawmen had been working on this treaty for the past three years. Everything made sense to everyone, but some last minute edits had been suggested, so now they had to sit down and make sure there was no foul play.

Barba trusted Jennings, at least. He was an honest man who he'd had the pleasure of getting to know. At first, starting grounds had been shaky, but this was an important task. They had to make sure both sides came to an agreement, in writing, and neither could work out any loopholes. The agreement was a complex 400 page document, but over two-thirds of the pages could be boiled down to clauses and how to handle situations as they came.

Most had to do with not only the peace treaty, but the chaos that resulted from the war.

It was no secret that pirates, gangs, and private companies had started to wreak havoc on planets, causing more civil unrest than before the war. Neither side saw any benefit of such and decided mutual elimination of havoc was the best idea, then letting planets decide who's government of one of the two sides to fall under. An idea not many of the old war veterans liked, but it was seeming to be the only way.

There were other things, like certain planets that had been bouncing between factions for the duration being allowed to vote what faction they wished to stay under, no planets could be left unaligned after a certain amount of time, planets able to vote in their ambassadors and such…

It wasn't pure freedom, but it was freedom from a war that had gone on too long.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Barba said around his coffee cup, looking up as Jennings stepped into his study, "Come to harrass me again, Jennings?"

"Not at all. Those days ended years ago." Jennings said, sighing as he sat down in the seat across from Barba, "I had the MRVN go over the document, no underlying loopholes or fresh inserts that it noticed. Still doing the double checks the hard way?"

"I prefer it." Barba deadpanned, getting a chuckle, "Are they still insisting we have that radiohead, erm… Luis Shanes, here? He's a respectable gentleman, for a robot."

"_ Sim. _" Jennings corrected, "Your distaste for technology is showing."

"Doesn't it always?"

Jennings chuckled at the dry-cut attitude of the Militia Rep, staring past him at the cityscape. Only four days before the signing, another six months to six years of implementing the new rules, maybe a few years of cleaning up the pirate garbage… By the time his kids got their shit together, had kids, and his grandkids started thinking about maybe having kids, the galaxy should be as it should… peaceful.

"Are you nervous yet?"

"No. We've rehearsed so many times I could do the speech in my sleep."

"Not about that. About how the people will take it." Barba said, looking over his glasses, "Like rioting."

"That's not our problem anymore. We are simply messengers to the world, and in the words of the old homeworlds : Don't Shoot The Messenger." Jennings chuckled, "Has Commander Torres signed their part?"

"Yes, has General Marder done his?"

"Unsurprisingly, no. But he's not the general in charge anymore. It's General Rorke now, he signed it and had the other commanding generals and investors do the same. A good move on his part."

"Yes, we had some of the Militia Investors sign it as well."

"You still have investors?"

"Of course! The Vanguard design still has some worth!" Barba scoffed, "Unlike your Monarchs."

"I happen to like the Monarchs, thank you."

"They're tacky knock-offs." Barba taunted, knowing Jennings puffed up slightly in the cheek when he got annoyed. He did not disappoint before he took a deep breath, and let it back out.

"You're trying to rile me up."

"Are you surprised?" Barba chuckled, "But I mean, the day of. Do you think anyone will try anything?"

"I believe in the shields and the glass. If they do, they won't get far."

There was a gentle knocking at the doors, and they turned slightly to look back as a secretary poked her head in.

"Sirs? There are some people here to see you." She said, and they looked at each other, "They say it is very urgent, about the event."

"I suppose we should grant them an audience?"

"They are waiting in the small conference room." The secretary said, leaving. The two took a moment before they made their way down.

"Who do you think it is?" Barba asked.

"I'll put my money on another radio host wanting to have an exclusive before the day of."

"Hmph. Should we have sent them away?"

"No, I happen to enjoy watching the light die from their eyes when we say no."

Barba gave Jennings an odd look as they got to the conference room door, and opened it to find… not at all what they were expecting. Barba's mouth dropped open, and Jennings had ground to a halt, unable to stop the words of shock that left his mouth.

"What are _ you _ doing here?!"

* * *

_**Join My Discord!**_  
/YUeJ3at


	11. Chapter 11

Chase was livid.

It was three days before the event. Last moment, the place of the event had _ changed _. Such a huge and dramatic change was almost impossible to pull off but they had managed to do it, and now he was being forced to change his game-plan.

The original event was to be 'outside' in a domed, heavily guarded amphitheater. That wasn't a challenge; he just had to get into the roof supports the night before and he had found not one but five backdoors weeks ago when he'd gotten there. Now, they were inside, in the large meeting room of a hotel. The guest list had been cut to an absolute minimum, but to his luck, it was the lobby of _ his _ hotel. He just had to develop a plan…

Chase sat on the bed as his private communication device rang, and as he had expected, his Director answered. The voice was heavily warped as it asked:

"And what will we do when the world descends to chaos?"

"CHAOS will rise above."

"What is going on, Agent Jasper?"

"There has been a last minute change of location." Chase explained, "They have moved the meeting to the lobby below me. I have managed to be provided the guest list, the targets are still present but it will have to be up close and personal. I am going to require an immediate extraction."

"How close and personal?"

"If I must, point blank."

There was a long sigh, the director seeming to ponder before he said, "No. I want you to fall back. I'll send someone else."

Chase stared in shock at the phone before he asked, "Why? I am already here."

"I already knew of the change and the reason why. There are higher targets in the building, and I need someone dependable that can do the job."

The words of the director were like a stab to the chest, Chase falling quiet. Dependable? _ Dependable? Then what in the fresh hell was he? _

"Agent, did you hear me?"

"...yes sir. But I am trying to find out what would disqualify me from the job." Chase said a little bit snappier than he meant to.

"Your emotions are still not in check, agent. It has been twenty years yet you still cannot control your reaction to titans."

"How can I help it? I worry for their scan-"

"That is _ not _ what I am speaking of." The director cut him off.

"I fail to see what titans have to do with this."

"Agent Jasper, are you trying to challenge me?"

"I am only asking why I am not deemed _ dependable _ for this job! This was no easy job, and why would I be considered for such until at this moment if I was _ not _ dependable?!"

"You are out of line, Agent. You do not question the choices of CHAOS, not now, not ever. Pack up and wait for the agent who will be taking over your work, they will be arriving in 48 hours."

"...sir." Chase's voice was level, but his temper wasn't.

"You ought to curb that attitude, agent. We all know what solitude can bring to an old mind like yourself." The line went dead, and a moment later the screen cracked as Jasper crushed the communicator in his hand. He kept squeezing as blood seeped out from between his fingers, down to his wrist before dripping onto the floor, the speaker making a warbled dial-tone noise before the device gave up all together.

Dropping the heap to the floor, he looked at his bloodied hands, and was violently reminded of someone else's blood drenching his hands. He could hear the gasping cries, and his own sobs of horrified pain.

_ "Fuck. Fuck! _ ** _No_ ** _ !" _His voice echoed in his ears, from a time of the past.

Chase stood up and quickly walked to the bathroom, washing the blood off his hands. The director's words rolled around in his head as he decided if he needed to put in stitches, and the eerie feeling of having an idea of who they were sending loomed in the back of his mind.

_ Dependable. _

It had been a long time since he'd heard those words, negative or positive. It was just a word that seemed to escape his mind until it was brought up and branded on the front of his brain. And it stayed there, like a painful reminder.

* * *

It was three days before the event when Corey, Uso, and Hiromi arrived at Jericho. They had been delayed by a day as they had to land the ship a few planets over so as to not possibly get shot down, due to the ship being marked as Blisk's, and ride in on a small galaxy transit. Uso and Corey had dressed to try and keep their Sim personalities hidden, but Hiromi had opted not to be disguised much.

"No need." She had assured them both. Now, she was glad she hadn't worn a cover, she wouldn't have been able to see the beauty before her, and above her. Jericho was a beautiful city, the tall buildings glinting with the morning light. Birds of all sorts flew above her from two walls of beautiful vining plants. Between them and the walls were titans, painted to reflect the tropical land around them, standing on the sides of the paths. Corey and Uso seemed nervous but Hiromi wasn't, taking it all in before she followed after the boys. "It's so beautiful."

"Have you never been to a tropical planet?"

"No, back home was in the woods and Harmony was a grassland mostly. It's still beautiful, but nothing like this!"

"I am surprised they have titans out. I thought most were decommissioned." Uso stated.

"Who told you that?" Corey asked incredulously, "No, they are mostly _ destroyed _as both production locations and assembly lines were lost to the Riot of the Cores, and the Bombing of Harmony. Having this many titans in this excellent condition is a sign of wealth, and peace."

Hiromi couldn't help as her eyes were drawn to the beautiful northstar, the titan making eye/optic contact with her and she waved. To her joy and surprise, the titan waved back.

"They are living their best lives here." Corey said.

"If they even have Titan AIs anymore, I bet they were replaced with basic greeters, or had their protocols wiped."

"Are you always such a half empty glass?" Corey said sharply, Uso looking over but couldn't react as a local approached, and draped a lei over Hiromi's head.

"Welcome!"

"Thank you." Hiromi smiled, and the woman turned to Corey. He respectfully put up his hand, saying "Thank you but no thank you, ma'am." She nodded and finally turned to Uso, who despite no face nervously looked at her.

"Um…"

"It will not hurt you." The woman laughed, and Uso flickered before he started to lower his head, but she stopped him, "Put your hood back."

Surprisingly, Uso did it without thought. The woman tipped her head gently, then smiled as she put the Lei over his head, and with one smooth motion, pulled his hood back up.

"You have come a long way, Pilot." She said, Uso looking at her in surprise before he realized she must have connected the dots with seeming a Sim. But he didn't correct her, instead he nodded. "Are you here for the Treaty?"

"I am."

"Then I am sorry to say but you may have come for nothing. They moved it last minute, it will be broadcasted but seeing it happen in person has become extremely restricted."

"What? Why?" Hiormi asked in surprise.

"Something must have spooked them." The woman shrugged.

"Is there any way to get in?"

"From what I understand, you have to be on a list."

"Thank you, ma'am." Uso said. The woman nodded, them doing so before continuing on, "That's not good."

"Are we too late?" Hiromi asked.

"No, otherwise the place would be on lockdown." Corey said, "We need to get on that list."

"Already on it." Uso said, moving along before he stopped at a store, walking inside and coming back a few minutes later, handing them both a sort of ID card.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"The Galactic Database is easy to access in a place like this, where almost everyone can access it, when you have WiFi." Uso tapped the side of his head, "Don't lose these. Cmon, we need to go get to our rooms."

"Rooms?" Corey asked in shock.

They were soon at a great big hotel, the lobby bustling with employees and guests. There was a line to the front counter, but after that long flight, it was the smell of food that enticed Hiromi.

"I'm starving." Hiromi said, "I'm gonna go get some food, guys."

"I'll come with you." Corey offered, and Hiromi didn't miss the glance Uso gave him.

"I'm fine, I'm a big girl. Besides, I wanna go sit down. I'm still tired from surgery…"

"Alright…" Corey said, and offered her a communicator, "Call us if you need something."

Hiromi nodded, and turned, heading towards the resturant-cafe on the other side of the lobby. When she got there, she found to her delight it had a little patio. Thankfully, it was a little less busy here as she went and sat down at a tea table by herself.

Hiromi had only been here maybe a few minutes and she was already in love. To the North beyond the city she could see a jungle that stretched into the distance, small mountains green and blue. To the East was a coastline shaped like a horseshoe, the sand stretching almost a mile upshore, people like dots. And to the south, the cityscape and the ship port.

She wondered if Corey had ever been here before. For a moment, she regretted leaving him with Uso but he was very... interested in her? And as much as she enjoyed his company, she didn't know what to think of him. When this was over, he would have to go back to working for Blisk, who she found vile and despicable, but to Corey… that was his pilot.

Hiromi still didn't grasp the concept of a link, but the two had tried their best to explain it from their sides. Still, however, she couldn't relate… Maybe it was because they were driven by a program, and humans were driven by...

...by what?

Hiromi also wondered how in the world Corey had come to find a fancy in her. From what she understood, that only happened between Pilots and Titans. There had been a mention by Oscar that sometimes Techs and Titans found interest in each other, but that didn't seem to be the case here. She merely decided to not think on it, looking back over to the west-

Hiromi stopped mid turn, staring at the side of the face of a man. He was looking down and over the bar-like counter on the edge of the railing, legs crossed under him through the legs of the barstool. He had a blood-orange mimosa, the colors matching his curling hair that poked out from under his ball-cap.

Normally, she would have passed this man by without a second glance, but there was a mark on his neck. Wrinkled skin that crawled out of the collar of his shirt from a burn that must have happened long ago. But it was a special mark, it was purple in some spots as blood vessels ran close to the surface.

Hiromi had seen this mark before, she had studied it, memorized it. And now, as she stared longer, she could see the shape of his face. The nose, the lips, the adam's apple, the brow, and she could count every freckle until she reached zero, and didn't miss a single one.

Hiromi's lips opened, a soft gasp as she reached down into her coat, and removed the pistol that Uso had given her. She was quick to move it to her right hand and put it in her coat pocket, slowly getting up and picking her way around tables and to his right side.

"Is this seat taken?" Hiromi found herself amazed that her voice didn't shake, the red-head jerking slightly and looking at her in surprise. Up close, she could see there was grey mixed in.

"Oh, uh, no. It's open."

"Thank you." she sat down briskly, keeping her hand in her pocket. There was a long moment of silence before she asked, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah.. yeah it is." The man said quietly, then shook his head, "Could do without the humidity, though."

"I could too… What brought you here?"

"What… what do you mean?" The man asked.

"Oh! I mean, if you hate the humidity, why come here? Did you come to hear the treaty?"

"...yeah, sorta, until they moved it."

"Yeah, that's a bummer. I'm glad I got on the list."

_ That _ got his attention, and he looked over, seeming to glance at her up and down. Hiromi tried to play it cool, keeping both hands in her pockets as she leaned on the counter, semi facing him, semi-not.

"There's a list?"

"Yeah, it was pretty hard to get on but I've got my ways." she said, and the smile she saw on his face made her want to throw up. She had seen it before, the little curl of a flirty gesture that boys had made at her before, when they wanted something. And now, here, that man was trying it.

"Wow, what made you come over and sit by me then, miss special?"

"I don't know, it just seemed like you were up for a conversation." Hiromi said, rolling her head towards him slightly, her neck hurting for a moment but she ignored it. Her heart was pounding in her throat, sweating like crazy, but she was managing to keep the act on.

"Oh, did I now? Then tell me, hun, what does it look like I want to talk about?"

"Hmm… how about we start from the top, Agent Jasper?" Hiromi moved her body to face him, and pulled the gun out of her pocket to point it at him. He must have seen it because his smile faltered, and he slowly sat up a little straighter. "Or should I say, _ Chase Colton. _My name is Hiromi Vasello. Ring a bell?"

"Vasello?... You're one of Oscar's girls?" Chase asked.

"Not quite, I'm the niece of his wife Amy, hence the lack of the last name Kione." Hiromi's friendly attitude had vanished, tipping her head again, "Does _ that _ name ring a bell?"

"..." Chase reached up and removed his glasses, looking at her with piercing blue eyes. For a second, a nervous chill ran up her spine as he started to lean in.

"Stop right there, I will shoot you."

"Go ahead, but I know what you're here for. And I can't answer your questions if I'm dead, now can I?"

"... I suppose."

"Who else is here with you?"

"Just me."

"Bullshit." Chase said quickly, but was cut off as a waitress walked over and put Hiromi's drink and croissant down between them, breaking the spell that they had locked each other in. He waited until the waitress had left before he said, "If you want answers, we need to go somewhere else."

"..." Hiromi was brought to a pause. She wanted an answer, but she wanted to _ shoot _ him and be done with it. But a part of her, a part of her felt like… There was more than could be seen behind his bright blue eyes.

It looked like he was… he was begging her… He was hiding it, but she could still _ see it. _

** _Be as gentle as a dove, but as wise as a serpent. _ **

"Alright, I'll oblige." Hiromi said, but kept her gun trained on him.

"Then follow me."

* * *

Uso and Corey were about finished at the front counter when he heard his name called across the room. It was a deep, electronic voice and it startled him because it was a voice he knew so well, but what was it doing _ here?! _

"BT?" Uso asked, turning towards the source. BT stalked over angrily, looking between the two as his blue optic burned like fire.

"What the fuck are you two doing here?! Where are Linnie and Hiromi?"

"Linnie is back at my house," Uso started, "And Hiromi went to get food. What the fuck are _ you _ doing here?!"

"Hiromi told us about the broadcast, and we saw_ you-" _BT turned and jabbed a finger at Corey's chest, "-picking the girls up. How did they even contact you?"

"I gave her my personal contact number." Corey stated flatly, unimpressed.

"Your-? Nevermind. We came here to warn the ambassadors and get the girls turned around before this could possibly become a bloodbath. We need to get Hiromi, _ now. _ Jack and I just confirmed that Jasper is _ here." _

If Uso had blood, it would have run cold, "When?"

"We saw him on the camera recordings, he was in the lobby headed towards the bar."

"The bar?" Uso turned his head around, trying to figure out where they were at before he laid his optic on a sign and realized to his horror there was only one place that served food in this hotel… "Oh _ fuck!" _

Uso took off, pushing aside employees and guests as he made a beeline for the small restaurant/cafe that was on the other side of the lobby. BT and Corey were right behind him, storming in as the Ai went to the counter, past the line, and slammed his hands on the counter.

"Did a woman come through here? Asian, black hair, brown eyes, wearing a brown shawl?"

The cashier looked at him in stupor but a waitress turned her head nonchalantly and said, "Yeah, I took her a coffee not two minutes ago. She's on the balcony with the older gentleman, red hair."

"He's in the fucking-" Corey started but BT and Uso had already taken off, yelling for everyone to get down as they drew weapons and stormed the balcony. Guest's dropped to the floor, security starting to enter the area, shouting 'they saw him over here!'

"Hiromi! HIROMI!" Uso shouted, looking around the patio. But there was no one there, only an empty plate, a full cup of coffee, and a half-drank glass of blood orange mimosa.

* * *

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_**/YUeJ3at**_


	12. March 4th, 2317

_**Trigger Warning : Mentions of Child Abuse, Rape, Suicide Attempt, and a graphic description of injury and death.**_

* * *

Hiromi didn't really expect this.

She had expected for him to lead her to a dark room or some secluded alley where he could try to disarm her, or a crowded place and make _ him _ look like a victim of a robbing or kidnapping, but so far he had been laid-back, calm…

And now they were here at a park, sitting on a bench, watching children play. Jasper was sitting back, hands in his pockets -empty, she had him dump the contents- watching the kids play.

"...Well, I'm ready." He said quietly, "Ask away."

"What is CHAOS?"

"Collected Hunters of the Advanced Operations in Sirvea. I call them Cunts who Hate the Advancement of OtherS, with a capital 'S' at the end."

"Wow, they just really wanted to spell CHAOS, didn't they?"

Jasper laughed, "Yeah, yeah they did. Probably because the director is a pinhead."

"Who's the director?"

"Son of the old director, couldn't tell you a name, couldn't give you a place. I don't even know where our homebase is. It's limited, an automated system that takes us there and back."

"What about Sirvea?"

"Sirvea was a small planet in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere where a lot of genetic testing happened. I was a test tube baby, raised to be a soldier. We all were. I had these, well... genetic-mechanic enhancements done. They stitched these weird wires into my muscles; pulls my bones back into place and makes me able to push over Titans." He flexed his fingers, "Then they injected me with nanobots so my wounds would heal in minutes with the right electrical signals. It's pretty neat, but I have to have a tablet to heal."

"A tablet?"

"Yeah, it sends small electric shocks into my skin through a needle near the wound and it tells the nanobots to close it up." Jasper mused, "Another downside of the nanobots is someone can constantly see how my body is functioning, and my location."

"...So they know you're here?"

"Yeah but they don't know who I'm with, what I'm saying, or what I'm thinking. I have some limited privacy, but my heart rate honestly gives me away a lot when I get upset, or angry."

"...Why did you join the Militia?" Hiromi asked, watching his face as he seemed to be reminiscing, and to her, the last thing she would ever consider a threat.

"It was a mission. I was to learn the layout of Demeter Base and Pilot School on Harmony enough to make a map, and to tip them off on future missions. It was a long term mission, pretty easy, but… I got distracted, stopped checking in… It seemed like they didn't really mind, until… Until Liona and Uso happened."

"Uso?"

"Yeah… You see, Uso was a key. That tower in Liona was one of many that the IMC, Millita, and CHAOS discovered. Thanks to the left behind research, we, CHAOS, _ knew _ it could make portals, we _ knew _ it had huge teleportation capabilities, but… we couldn't figure out how to work it. The last tower we found was Liona, at the same time the IMC and Militia were clashing over it. I got the mission by chance and helped them download the program they found, but... then I forgot about it trying to save Pilot Kione."

Hiromi saw his chin drop, and she stared at him, her brows furrowing slightly, "You mean Sola?"

"Yeah… I mean Sola." His voice was sad, almost, and it made Hiromi angry. What gave this man a right to be sad, after he had brutally murdered her?

"What made Uso the key?"

"He had the program, he _ was the program _. His base information, what Smith decoded and added his titan programming to, that was what activated the towers. By the time CHAOS figured it out, and got back to me, he was already Sola's titan by then. They told me I needed to retrieve him, but…"

"...But, what?"

Jasper stared into the nothingness, then sat forward, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, shaking his head. He was like this for a few minutes before he sat back up, and Hiromi saw on his face-

...tears.

He was _ crying? _

"Before Sola, there was Jaza Asaka." Jasper said, "She was my friend in the Militia, as a rifleman, through pilot school and beyond. I think… I think we were pilots for a whole year before she just came to me a complete wreck. She told me that her little sister tried to kill herself and she was going to the hospital, but she couldn't pull herself together enough to get there. So I… I drove her there, it was a five hour drive, and she told me… She told me alot.

"She told me about how when she was a kid, how excited her parents were when they were going to have another baby, and about how it… seemed to vanish after the baby was born. How that unease turned to anger when their little sister got a little older and her eyes started to turn gold. Jaza's whole family, they… they had blue eyes. Mom, dad, kids… She told me about how one night she woke up to her mother screaming bloody murder and her and her brother came down to see their father just… beating her with a fucking fire poker. And then he-"

Jasper stopped for a moment, rubbing his mouth, "Then he turned on their little sister, who was crying on the kitchen floor, and beat her until she was more blood than skin. She was three. They never saw her again. Jaza thought… thought her father killed her until the Militia Hospital called her and said Sola listed her as an emergency contact when she enlisted."

"So… The little girl her father beat, was… Sola, Jaza's little sister?" Hiromi asked in confusion.

"Yeah. A long time ago, before Oscar and Amy got married, I guess her mom had a fling with Oscar? I didn't figure it out for years but I guess she was a spy, and she used Oscar to get information using… methods. Either way, she got pregnant and had Sola… and I guess because of the abuse she suffered under her husband, she hated Sola because of it."

"Oh… what happened when you… got to the hospital?"

"... We found Sola, she had casts on sixty percent of her body… She tried to jump off the top of the Pilot School building. She… She had been violently raped on campus by another classmate. When she told the Director, who was her mother, Director Asaka… She blamed her, and shamed her. And then the fucking scum, he had a _ video. _ He shared it and told everyone she had asked for 'the time of her life' and she got labeled a whore and got kicked out of school for indecent exposure. She thought her life was over so she just jumped from the roof. She was eighteen. When you looked at her, she was just… dead inside. She was still alive but…. There was no soul, just a body and a brain. They couldn't even figure out how she was still physically alive but she was.

"We stayed in the hospital for about two weeks, maybe more. I stayed in the hall a lot because her heart rate would skyrocket whenever I was in the room, but… it made sense. The hospital released her and we took her back to Demeter Base and she stayed with her sister in the room next to hers. I never really saw her until a few months later, she started to come out of her shell thanks to Jaza. Jaza kept trying to get her to become a pilot because she knew how to be one. She had her come meet her titan, BRC, and come meet my-" Jasper stopped, as if he'd struck his own cord, swallowing hard before his voice shook, "My… my titan, Nini. But she wouldn't do it, she was so stubborn. Then… Jaza died."

"Died? How?"

"Jumped in front of a shot from a titan to save a medic, took her head clean off. Probably didn't feel a thing. I think that just started an unholy fire in Sola… she tried to get BRC, but he was too emotionally damaged. So she got Jenny. They were like peas in a pod, I thought I mourned for Jaza more than Sola did but… Jenny helped Sola recover faster. Jenny just filled that hole in Sola's heart in her own way and they were a Unit, they were that way for years… and then… well, Jenny died too and that _ look came back. _"

"...the same look she had in the hospital?"

"Yeah. She didn't come out of her room, didn't eat, didn't talk to us… nothing. She had physical therapy because of her leg being replaced and sometimes we'd get to take her,but she soon stopped going. It was like… Hell. Because I had watched Jaza work so hard to get her out of that pit and she fell right back down. She emotionally ignored me, Jack, BT… everyone…. Everyone until Uso came around. I didn't see her again until he was turned online, and I could see it. She was on fire. She loved him before she even knew it was love..."

Hiromi realized something was on her cheeks, and reached up, touching under her eyes and finding tears. She looked at her hand, a turmoil of emotions going through her. This was… so much. _ Too _ much, almost. But she still didn't have an answer to her question, gritting her teeth, she looked up.

"If you gave such a shit about Sola, why did you fucking kill her?"

Jasper, for the first time, looked over at her, right into her eyes, "...Do you know how she died?"

"No, no one does. Because it was just you and her. Uso didn't make it to her in time."

"...then you should probably know…"

* * *

"It's working!"

Kione's voice was filled with relief as she and Chase watched a freighter slowly come through the humongous portal. The tower had been nothing more than a catalyst, created to make an exit for synthetic black holes opened on the other end, an amazing technology that only Uso seemed to barely understand. They had been nervous about it working, but everything seemed to be in place. Even the ship. It had been the same one Kione and BT had been rescued from a few months before, Chase could see the word "AMEILA" start to form on the side. It had crew, information, and Oscar's family. The end of a long road, they were so close.

Just a few more minutes, hardly enough time...

"_ About time!" _ Jack's voice was filled with relief in Chase's ear.

"Once it clears the threshold, you can start blowing this joint, Uso! I'll shut the portal down when you're done."

"_ Yes ma'am! _" Uso confirmed. Kione grinned, punching Chase in the arm gently. He was tense, covered in sweat under the armour, but he remained neutral on the outside.

"And you said this would be harder than this!"

"Seems I was wrong." Chase chuckled softly, looking out. The IMC forces had been mostly wiped out by their team consisting of Briggs, MOB, Oscar, the 6-4, him, Jack, Kione and their respective titans. Barker had even joined the fray, dogfighting with some of the dropships. They had cleared the tower of most of the automated threats, nothing that Kione's ticks couldn't slow down if anymore activated. He could see Nini from where he stood, also looking up in wonder.

"I gotta thank you, Chase."

"Thank me?"

"If you hadn't saved Uso from the director, this would have never been possible." Kione said, removing her helmet as she started to rig up a bomb to the control panel, rubbing sweat from her eyes. A pang of guilt went through Chase, and he tried to swallow it down. Now wasn't the time to second guess the course of action.

He had a job to do.

"Nah, you shouldn't thank me." Chase said, walking over to the other side to seem like he was looking out the window, but standing perfectly behind Kione. Slowly, he drew his pistol while removing a device from his pocket, and pressing a button.

He felt his connection with Nini muffle. After briefly trying to reach out without response, he confirmed the blocker was working.

"Well, if you wanna be that humble, I won't fight you about it." Kione mused.

"I would rather you didn't fight me at all."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her voice was teasing. Chase had moved closer, silent as a mouse before he put the gun to the back of her temple and cocked the hammer back. Kione froze, her hands still on the unarmed bomb she was rigging up, and he saw her fingers close as her voice shakily asked, "...Chase?"

"Take your hands away from the bomb, hold them up, and stand up." His voice was ice but his heart was pounding. He had killed before, he had taken lives, but nothing like this.

"Chase, what's going on? Please, t-" She shut up as the gun was pressed a little tighter, bringing her hands up slowly. Slowly, Kione got to her 'feet', and started to turn around.

"Stop!" Chase's voice boomed and the firm command froze her, "Don't. Don't make me."

"...but why, Chase?"

Chase didn't answer, grabbing her gun from her back and throwing it before stepping up against her and grabbing her pistol as well. He could feel her tremble whenever he touched her, and he was unsure if she was anticipating an attack, or preparing to attack. Either way, he got out of her space right away.

"Go to the rail, now. Walk." Chase commanded, her going to the railing by the stairs. He quickly moved to the control panel, turning and chucking the bomb out the window. Putting a foot on her helmet, he yanked the transmitter from it, and walked back towards Kione.

He didn't know when, but she had turned around. She was staring at him, her hands were up. And for a moment, Chase paused. His gut twisted, her look of utter heartbroken betrayal completely void of anger. He could see tears in her eyes.

"Chase, please, talk to me. What are you doing? What's going on?"

"I want you to get on the comm and tell Uso to stop his data corruption, and to come up here."

"What?"

"Do it, do it or I'll shut the portal on the middle of the ship, Kione!" Chase shouted. Kione flinched, her eyes flashing with fear but it was gone faster than he expected, instead replaced with realization.

"Do you…. Do you know how to use this portal, Chase?" Kione said with horror.

"CHAOS figured it out long ago, we just needed the start codes." Chase said, his voice sharp and deadly. "Now tell him to stop, or I'll shut the portal."

Kione looked down at the communicator, then back at Chase. Her face changed, changed to a face he knew very well : defiance. Kione had always been the headstrong, unyielding friend. It made his gut twist again, because now, he was afraid. Afraid of what he might have to do.

"No."

"What?"

"Chase, there's no way you're making me stop him. I'm not letting the IMC, or whatever you are, get to the safehold of the militia. _ I'm not letting you have Uso. _ And if that means I have to give up everyone I love on that ship… If that means I have to take everything I love from my _ father, _ I'll fucking do it. I can live with that, because I know what happens if I don't. The question is, can you live with that on your conscience? Can you live with the fact that you've taken an innocent life?"

Chase stared at her, shocked by her unyielding stance followed with the questioning of his own morale. In all his years, he had never once injured a civilian directly. He had watched Talon, once a man he saw like a mentor, fall down the slippery slope of the thirst for human suffering.

But now? Using people, those of which he knew for a fact had no involvement whatsoever in the war, as a bargaining chip? And her saying '_ no'? _

"Chase, put the gun down. I don't know who CHAOS is, but we can save you from them."

"Save? _ Save? _ I didn't ask to be saved, and you are in no place to be making demands. Are you going to tell Uso to stop and heel, or not?"

There was a slight silence, Kione looking up at the ship, then down at Chase. Despite her coutiance, he could see a tear roll down her cheek. "…Please, Chase… Please, I don't know what you think you have to do, but I know you. _ I know you. _ And this isn't you."

Chase felt something roll down his cheek, and went to touch it. His fingers, however, bumped his helmet instead and he felt it smear... A tear? Was he crying?

Kione had made him cry.

He saw her smile -she must have known-, like a smile of relief and whispered, "Please, I know you're in there. It doesn't have to be like this Chase."

Chase stared at her, but in the back of his mind, the anxiety started to build. If he did let her go, and he let the Vasello family through as well as let the tower be destroyed, CHAOS would come for him. They would kill him, take everything from him. Torture him. Make him plead for death.

And then they would put him in a sim and drive him psycho, just like they did with Talon.

But if he killed everyone in that ship… or took Uso….

He could see her eyes. Full of life, full of hope. Fire.

In that moment, he decided that he knew what he had to do. Throwing the device to the side, he stalked forward and grabbed Kione by the throat, lifting her up off the ground. Kione gasped for air, grabbing his wrist, but she surprisingly didn't fight back.

"If you're not going to stop Uso, then I will."

"Wh-What are you doing?! Chase!?"

"My name is Agent Jasper, and I am upholding my mission. And I know the one thing titans hold more important than a mission." Without hesitation, he took the barrel of his 45 and jammed it under her chest plates, and yanked the trigger until the clip was empty.

As Chase pulled the gun away, he suddenly realized she wasn't limp. A metal foot connected with his chest and he staggered, dropping Kione and the gun in shock. There was blood coming out of the bullet holes and the seams of her armour as Kione gasped for air. Some of the bottom left of her jaw was gone, half of her neck blown away from a bullet that had come out her collarbone. He could see veins, the throat, the windpipe, and her fucking tongue...

But somehow, she was still alive, and grasping for the gun.

Chase felt his stomach twist as he heard Kione make a weak, gurgling wail as she lifted the gun and realized it was empty. Her eyes were panicked, and she fixed her eyes on the next closest weapon, her pistol thrown to the side ten feet away.

He didn't know why, but he couldn't pull his eyes away as he watched the pilot try to drag herself across the floor to the gun. Kione would bleed out long before she reached it, but… the fact she was still trying.

"Kione… Kione, stop, you're going to bleed out." Chase spoke before he knew what he was saying, and suddenly he crossed the floor. The realization of what he had done soaked in, and he ripped his helmet off, tossing it as he started to take off his scarf, "Fuck. Fuck! ** _NO!_ **"

Kione's eyes flared in anger, trying to fight him off but he cursed at her, putting the scarf to her neck and pushing against the bleeding artierty. In the back of his mind, he knew she was gone, but the panic of realizing what he had just done was taking over, and his eyes were foggy.

A sharp pain greeted his side and he screamed, reeling back. Looking down, he realized Kione had buried her knife, the only weapon he hadn't removed, all the way to the handle into his side. It burned cold, and he almost vomited from the pain.

Looking back at Kione, who was lying on her back, struggling to breath... he felt the coldness begin to set back in. She was trying to hold on but they both knew that she had not a single chance. And even then, she kept fighting.

Chase could hear screaming from downstairs, his radio in his helmet blasting in mania. The militia had realized something went wrong. Up above, the ship had finished crossing through the portal. And down below, he was sure that Uso had stopped his corruption.

His mission was complete.

Standing up, grunting in pain, Chase retrieved his helmet and put it on. He knew that the injury would seriously impair his abilities but he just had to focus on ignoring the pain. He tuned out the militia and changed to a different channel.

"Nini, be ready for evacuation."

_ "Roger, pilot." _

Moving to the control panel, he looked down at, then back at Kione. She had one hand up, reaching for the ship. Tears were still running down her cheeks, and she was making quiet noises between her gasps for air. But her eyes were still full of life, as she stared at the underbelly of the ** _IMC Ameila._ **

Somehow, he felt as if he owed her solace. Turning back to the control panel, Chase typed in a series of commands, and as Kione stared up, she would see the portal close behind the ** _IMC Ameila. _ **Her hand, slowly, came down, and her head turned to look at Chase as he readied his weapon for the run of his life.

He had given them some valuable time, maybe a few days before CHAOS would figure out how to open those portals from the keystroke program. Just enough to get everyone away from there, so that everyone was safe. Everyone, except…

Chase didn't look back, he didn't see Kione reach out to him slightly before her hand dropped to the floor, his ears filling with the sound of those who once considered him their friend screaming from their fallen comrade as he ran for his life.

* * *

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_** /YUeJ3at**_


	13. Chapter 13

Hiromi sat there, staring as Jasper finished the story. His eyes had flowed freely with tears but he looked… dead. She could feel her tears still running down her own cheeks, and she wiped them away as a silence started to grow between them when he finished speaking.

She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to feel. He had tried to save her, but it didn't change the fact that he had shot her, and shot to kill.

**_My name is Agent Jasper, and I am upholding my mission._**

"Why did you tell me this?" Hiromi finally asked.

"...I haven't told a single soul since that day over 23 years ago. She was dead before the others got to her, so maybe I thought… maybe someone would like to know her final moments."

"Her final moments?" Hiromi said, her voice laced with anger as she stood up, standing before him as he stayed seated, looking up at her, "Her final moments should have been years from now, when her hair was grey after she lived a long and happy life with Uso, with her mom and dad, her brothers and sisters, her best friends, and with _me. _Do you understand what you did? You didn't only rob her of life, you robbed everyone who she knew and loved of having her in their life too."

Jasper looked at her, and nodded gently, swallowing hard as he said "I know."

"So why did you _shoot her?" _

"...even though I threatened to take Uso, and kill you and your family; I realized even though she was so much stronger than me… I couldn't do that to her again, take her soul out of her body if I followed through with it. But in the end, my fear got the better of me. I made the stupid mistake to kill her, and I hurt people because of it." Jasper said softly, "So if you want to kill me, then you can kill me."

Hiromi felt the shock of his last words hit her like a brick wall. He was ready, and he was _willing _to die. This is what she wanted, what she had been aiming for the last seven years of her life, and it was here, being handed to her on a silver platter. A finer opportunity would never present itself.

"... why should I?" Hiromi asked.

"It would be a mercy… If you don't kill me, and Uso gets ahold of me..." He swallowed hard, "I don't even think the years of torture I was trained to endure would save me from the unholy wrath of his hate and pain."

"What's to say you don't deserve it?"

"I do, but… you don't understand what torturing a person does to you. I've seen it, what emotionally charged torture does to someone… because when the person who they have vented all the years of pent up pain to is gone, they suddenly don't know what to do anymore. They go crazy, they lose their grip on reality. They become… they become like Talon."

Hiromi's nightmares flashed before her eyes of the red-lit sim that had chased her and Jack down like a wolf chasing lambs. Even the mention of his name brought her a cold sweat, and Jasper must have noticed, asking "Have you seen who I speak of?"

"...Yes."

"Then please, I'm begging you, spare Uso's future from being what happened to _him _. I am ready to die. I lost everyone I cared about on March 4th, 2317."

Hiromi and Jasper stared at each other before she drew the gun out of her pocket and aimed it at his head. His blue eyes glinted for a moment, like there was _joy, _before he closed them and tipped his head back so that her barrel aimed perfectly between his eyes. Her hands shook, her eyes were blurry, her emotions were in a turmoil. This is what she wanted, wasn't it?!

_So why couldn't she do it? _

"Thank you." Chase said, quietly, and she made a choking noise, her finger moving to the trigger. She started to pull it-

Something cold touched the back of her head, and Hiromi froze dead solid as a new voice broke into the conversation.

"I wouldn't be thanking her yet, Chase Colton." said the thick accent of a bounty hunter. Chase's eyes shot open and he looked horrified, starting to move his hands, but Blisk's voice cut through again."Ya stay right where ya are, got it? I'm not gonna hurt her UNLESS you do anything dramatic."

"What the fuck are you doing here?!"

"Got a call a few days ago, a job, asked me to get you out of the way of the wrath of Uso and this girl." Blisk said, "Paid a pretty penny, too. I would have normally declined but Hiromi and I here need to have a little _chat _here, too."

"Don't you dare hurt her." Chase's voice was stone, and Hiromi was caught off guard, looking as a fire burned in his eyes.

"I won't, I've been filled with enough lead. Besides, the people who wanted her father think he's dead anyhow," Blisk scoffed, "Give me your gun here."

Hiromi, slowly, moved the gun back and he took it from her, and moved the cold barrel away from her. She relaxed, only a little, knowing he still probably had it trained on her. Despite the situation at hand, she was thoroughly confused as to why Chase was threatening Blisk on her behalf.

"Now come along, let's head back to my ship and have a chat. I'll let you go when we're done, Hiromi, but you'll be coming with me Chase, alright? Stand on up, and the both of you start heading for the outskirts, I'll tell you where to go.

Chase stood up slowly, moving so that he didn't make Blisk react and stood beside Hiromi. His eyes were still burning, and he looked to the girl by him, and nodded, speaking in a crystal clear Japanese:

"_ Go on, I won't let him shoot you." _

_"Don't touch him." _She said very suddenly, Chase's face riddled with confusion but he wasn't able to ask before Blisk butted in.

"None of that ching-chong speech, you got me? Now get. I know where to shoot that it'll hurt but it won't kill ya."

Hiromi looked at Blisk - who looked like shit, she realized - but turned and started to walk. Chase fell in beside her, glancing down, but as requested, didn't do anything.

_I hope Uso and Corey are looking for me now… _

* * *

"What the fuck do you mean you can't find her?!"

Uso was staring at the tablet he was holding in his hands, staring as Hiromi's signal popped up as 'not connected'. He was horrified that he had missed such a simple step of connecting her to the actual database so when they were out of range, it would still work. But this meant if anything had happened to her… there would be nothing he could do.

She couldn't respawn, she couldn't be moved to a new body, she couldn't be sent home.

Hiromi would be dead.

The whole hotel was on lockdown, the ambassadors had been moved to a special bunker, and security was pulling posts everywhere. Jack and BT, to Uso's complete surprise, had some sort of contact with Gates, who had gotten them and brought them to Jericho. She was standing beside Jack; Bear and Davis facing the other way behind her, watching the doorway of the security room they stood in.

They had all been brought here by the hotel and event management, who Jack had also corresponded with upon arrival, standing around a table. Corey stood to his right, BT to his left, and Jack beside him. Gates stood next to Corey, and by her side stood a security director by the name of Kyle Petrenko and the event director by the name of Heath Tenum.

"I can't find her. I must have not finished hooking her up for a long range connection to the database, which means I can't locate her."

"How do you just _miss _a step like that, Uso?"Jack asked angrily, his face red in rage. It was a rare occurrence to see him angry, even BT was giving him a little space.

"She was complaining about the headaches she was getting so we stopped. Then we had to leave so as not to miss our window and we must have never finished."

"Fucking _christ _." Jack spat, turning away and looking at the massive wall of cameras.

"We've already collaborated with the Chief of Police; they have the guardian titans and all their units looking for them," Petrenko explained, "There is not far they could have gone, we will find them."

"Will it be _alive?" _

"Jack, please." BT said, and the pilot shook his head. Corey looked over.

"Do you think…"

"I don't know, Corey. I don't know."

"For now, we've moved the ambassadors to the bunker, until the threat is cleared we'll be keeping them down there. If you would like," Tenum said, "You can join them, until this clears over."

"I think we'll be fine." Gates said.

"Hey, boss, we found something!" one of the security shouted from the doorway, an officer standing by him. Petrenko turned and crossed over the room, and returned with the officer, who slapped a tablet on the table.

"Our security systems picked this up by a park."

The group looked, and what Uso saw made his blood run cold. The recording started of Hiromi, standing and pointing a gun at a man in a seat. She was crying, and she seemed like she was going to kill the man in the seat. The only thing they could make out was red hair.

"Is that _Chase? _" Jack asked in shock.

A figure moved up from the side and touched a gun to her head, and Corey blurted out "That's Blisk!"

"Blisk?" Gates asked, "Shouldn't he be in a coffin by now?"

"We followed them on the cameras, they went to the docks and got onto a ship, they haven't left yet because we have everything on lockdown." The officer explained, "We sent a titan to their location, to make sure they don't go anywhere."

"A titan won't be enough. Corey, did you already call the ship?"

"I did. They'll be here in twenty minutes."

"Give the ships' identification code to the police forces and have the ship drop the frames by the one Blisk is squatting in; they won't be leaving anytime soon. We need to get her before it's too lat-"

There was a resounding boom that shook the building and everyone staggered, lights flashing and people shouting in horror. Uso caught himself on the table, looking up to try and figure out what was going on.

"Sir, a ship just fired upon the hotel!"

"WHAT?! How is one flying around in lockdown?" Petrenko shouted.

"I don't know, it came from nowhere!"

"Stealth technology, I bet." Bear said as he pulled Gates back to her feet, them all turning and looking as a huge ship hovered a dozen feet from the ground, cables dropped from the belly as mercs were riding them down and starting to rush into the building.

"Fuck, they're going to breach!"

"Jack, look." BT pointed. There was a small group who had dropped in that wasn't moving in, wearing pilot armor; one standing with them looking very, very familiar. Uso's optic brightened in alarm.

_No way... _

"It's Talon!"

"Talon, eh? I got a bone to pick with him." Bear growled. "Maybe a rib, too."

"Uso, I need to get to the ship that Blisk is in," Corey stated urgently, "Maybe talk some sense into him, figure out how the hell he got here. I'll get Hiromi back."

Uso turned to look at the other stim, seeing the determined posture he held. Truly, so far, Corey had shone his dedication to whatever friendship he was developing with the girl, and if there was anyone else he could trust to talk to Blisk… it would be his own titan. Corey would bring her back.

"Come back, safe."

"What about Chase?!" Jack asked.

"You and I both saw how he was sitting, letting Hiromi point a fucking gun at him. He's the last person we need to worry about right now."

"...Uso?" BT asked in surprise, as if this was the last thing he expected to hear from him. Uso looked over, their pink and blue optics the only emotion they could read between each other.

"...I want to make sure we get to her before it's too late."

Corey nodded, and turned to Tenum, "Can you get me out of here?"

"Yes, follow me!"

Uso turned back to the task at hand, Petrenko was shouting above the chaos as security grabbed weapons, everyone else getting their gear, and him realizing how lacking in firepower he was.

"Uso!" Davis' call turned him, and he caught a gun that was tossed. Surprised, he looked at it, and noticed an atomic bomb emblem, with "LAST RESORT" carved over the top of it.

"Isn't this… Droz's?"

"Can't put much use to it anymore if he's gone, might as well put it in the hands of someone else who could use it." Davis said, his accent prevalent as he slapped a magazine in his own weapon, "Let's go give 'em the hurt."

Uso nodded and fell in with the security forces, the 6-4, Jack, and BT as they started to move towards the front where the forces were breaching. There was already the sound of gunfighting, but somehow, Uso could hear the speakers playing some sort of… russian opera?

"Damn, this is what we get to die to?" Bear asked.

"You oughta feel honored, this is from the '60s." Petrenko commented.

"...2060?" Davis asked. A headshake. "1960?"

"1860."

"Damn, so I'll be dying to music that's just like me?"

"And what's that mean, like you?" Petrenko asked with a brow raised.

"_ Old as fuck." _

Uso almost laughed but the look on Petrenko's face at the other was enough to shut him up, and they continued forward; the only sound beside the beautiful music and footsteps was the quiet snickers Davis was making.

"Shut up, Craig." Gates warned, Davis making a sigh.

"Yes, _mom." _

* * *

_**Join the Discord!**_  
_**/YUeJ3at**_


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